Family
by Comrade Raichu
Summary: A child finds himself trapped in a rough situation. He wants to go home to his family but a rash decision made in a moment of desperation prevents him from doing so. He feels hopeless, frustrated, and very lonely. Each day is miserable and a strain to get through but things start to change when a pokemon happens by his side one evening.
1. Johann

A small boy stood in front of a run-down house. His face stern and determined and his mouth pulled into a tight frown.

He felt a tickle under his left nostril and wiped at it with the back of his hand, stopping to examine the splash of red against the rest of the dark copper smears. A frustrated little sigh escaped him and he pinched his nose.

He thought of the woman in the house behind him and set his jaw. It would thrill her to break him. He refused to allow that. She would not hear one whimper pass through his lips or see one tear from him.

He was so deeply concentrating on keeping his emotions controlled that he almost didn't notice a pokemon slowly stalk by his side. Almost. His eyes flicked to it.

The majority of the left side of his face was swollen from a couple of punches he had received earlier that morning. He had to squint to better see the pokemon which gave him even more of an angry appearance.

At first, he thought the pokemon was a pikachu going by the size but the coloring and markings were off. He covered his swollen eye so he could see more clearly. "That's a big pichu," he thought.

A memory rushed back to the boy of him sitting with his father and two cousins. Papa in the middle with a pokemon picture book on his lap with the boys cuddled up to his sides. They had gone through that book countless times to the point where its spine had begun to fray, his papa teaching them about whichever pokemon the boys pointed out. Because of this, he and his cousins knew their pokemon very well. More so than other children their ages.

He winced at the memory. An almost breathtaking ache, far more painful and powerful than any punch, spread through him. He pushed the memory out of his mind and held back a surge of tears that threatened to overtake him.

The pichu stood alert at the boy's side, three legs on the ground and one held crooked in the air. He studied the child's face in horrified awe, head stretched toward him, nose twitching and chest heaving as he huffed the boy's bloodied scent. The boy felt embarrassed when he noticed the pokemon's gawking and scowled at him.

"Go," he said curtly while pointing away from him. The pokemon ignored the order. He walked to the boy's feet and gazed up at him with a very serious look, which confused the child. The boy quickly glanced behind him then turned back to the pokemon. Very slowly and stiffly, he lowered down onto one knee.

"Listen. There's a really bad person in that house back there," he said. His voice was pleasingly deep to the pichu's ears and surprisingly masculine for his young age which made him sound a bit older than he actually was. Unfortunately, it was also made hoarse from pain. The pichu pressed his large ears forward tightly. Even with his excellent hearing, he was having some trouble understanding the child.

"And another one across the street over there," he said, pointing. The pichu followed the boy's finger then quickly turned back and patted his face.

The boy mimicked the pokemon and touched his cheek. "I'm fine," he said. The pichu looked skeptical. "You need to leave. Don't let her see you. She'd probably try to catch you and sell you to some terrible person."

The pichu took the boy's hand in each front paw and pulled. His body leaned forward slightly as the pokemon tugged him but he didn't move otherwise. When the child didn't come, the pichu took a few quick steps backward and waved, gesturing for him to follow.

"No. I can't leave here yet."

"If you're afraid to go on your own, I'll stay with you until we can get you somewhere safe," the pichu said before remembering the boy wouldn't be able to understand him. He nodded emphatically but the child only stared at him.

The boy wanted to go. His bottom lip betrayed his attempt at a neutral face with a small shake. He pressed his lips together hard, ignoring the twinge of pain and metallic taste that spread over the tip of his tongue until he felt the movement had stopped and spoke.

"There's a pokemon who got hurt bad because of me," the boy said. "That woman who lives in the house back there has his ball. She said if I run off, she'd have her pokemon kill him." The pichu frowned. "I'm not leaving him. I can't. I'm trapped here until I can get that ball back but you aren't. Please go. I don't want you to get hurt too." The pichu shook his head and walked back to the child.

The boy's stomach growled. He tried to hide the discomfort it was causing him but his eyes grew a little wider and his skin paled to almost a ghostly shade of white.

The pichu's face grew more worried as he watched this. "I could go and call for papa," he thought. "But then I'd have to leave this boy here by himself. It would take a few days to walk to where I entered the city from here, I think. Papa and the others may not even be in this area and might not hear me." He looked at the boy's face. It was back to being blank. The pichu shook his head again. "You're hurt pretty badly yourself. I don't want to leave you," he said.

The boy couldn't understand what the pokemon said but appreciated his concern. His face softened and he placed his little hands around the pichu's shoulders but started pulling back when he noticed him flinch at the touch. The pokemon had never been grabbed by a human before. The pichu recovered from his shock and put a paw on the child's hand, stopping him. The boy tried to smile but even with the minuscule experience the pichu had with humans, he could tell the gesture was forced.

The boy spoke gently now. "Thanks for wanting to help me. Don't worry. I'll be okay," he said. "You need to get away fro-"

The boy's stomach grumbled again but was louder and more insistent. The nauseous hunger that ate at him coupled with the beating from before was too much. He squeezed his eyes closed and doubled over, trembling, then gripped his belly with one of his arms in a useless attempt to ease his stomach.

The pichu watched the boy crumble to both knees and kowtow before him. "Poor kid," he thought. He pet the boy's hair with his paw in an attempt to comfort him.

From inside the house behind the boy came a noise. This caused him to push himself up quickly despite the pain he knew the sudden movement would cause.

He looked at the pokemon. With as much authority as he could muster, he ordered him to leave once more. The pichu hesitated and then took off. He sped away to the boy's left and slipped into a pile of rotted lumber and shingles that had fallen from the roof of the dilapidated house that sat next door.

The boy felt despair as he watched the pokemon leave. He wished he could run away and hide, too. The muscles in his legs twitched in anticipation and he almost allowed the movement to continue but then remembered the poor pokemon and the woman's threats and rooted himself to the spot.

Glancing toward the woodpile, he could see a blurry spot of yellow that he guessed was the pichu. He lifted his hand, careful to keep it in front of his chest so the woman wouldn't see should she be near a window, and made a motion for the pokemon to stay. He then took in a shaky breath to steady himself for what was about to come.

The door opened and a man exited the house. He stooped to pick up a mud-caked pair of work boots that rested on the porch beside the front door and walked over to the steps, sat, and began to slip a boot over his foot before his eyes caught sight of the boy.

"You just can't keep your mouth shut," he said. There was a touch of irritation in his usually friendly voice. The boy bit at his lip worriedly when he picked up on this.

The man lifted off the stairs and walked to him. "Hey, I can get how you wouldn't want her as a mom but what do you get from arguing with her about it, huh? Just another beating. And I can't stop her if I'm not here. If she starts something, just ignore her."

"Yes, sir." The boy wanted to say ignoring her would probably set her off just as much but instead kept quiet.

The man shook his head. "I told you not to call me sir. Makes me feel old."

When the boy didn't respond, he bent down. "Look at me." The boy obeyed. "Damn," he said, wincing as he saw his face better. "She's your mother." This made the child sneer. "You can't change that. It's not worth getting hit for arguing about something you can't change. Okay?" The boy nodded reluctantly.

"Okay. Here," the man said as he handed the boy a brown paper bag. "I'll bring you something better after I get off of work. I put some pain medicine in there. Hopefully it'll help a little. It's a different brand than I usually get for you so I wrote a note on how much to take and when to take it."

"Thanks, Robbie," the boy said. The man straightened up and gave him a very gentle and careful pat on his head.

"Stop being so nice to him," a woman's voice called out from behind them. "Little asshole thinks he's too good for me. He needs to be brought down a few pegs."

Robbie ignored her and walked to an old sedan parked on the street in front of where the boy stood. He stopped and glared towards the house across the street for several seconds before slipping into the driver's seat. He started the car then leaned back, waiting for the woman.

The woman turned back to the door and twisted the knob to make sure it was locked. She pulled a compact out of her purse and admired her handiwork, tucking a sprig of heavily sprayed hair back into place and giving herself an approving smile before snapping the compact closed and stuffing it back into the bag.

She walked down the steps to the boy and gave him one final hard smack to the back of his head. He stumbled forward a few steps before catching himself and straightening back up.

His mind immediately went to the pokemon. He desperately hoped the pichu would stay put, as there would be nothing he could do to save him should he try to intervene, but didn't dare glance over to check in case the motion gave away the pichu's hiding spot to the woman.

"You think you're too good to be my son? You hate me so much you'll make up stories about a man you've never met?" the woman said.

The boy said nothing and stared straight ahead, trying to follow Robbie's advice. To keep himself from arguing with her, he clenched his hands so tightly it felt as if his knuckles would rip right through his skin. She noticed this. Smiling, she bent close to his face.

"I'll tell you again. Your father took off as soon as I told him he'd knocked me up. Never saw him after that. He didn't want you. He'd laugh in your face if he were here now and heard some of the little stories you've come up with about him." The boy stayed silent and kept his face emotionless.

Robbie roughly rolled down his window. "Tina, come on," he yelled. "You're going to make me late."

"Alright," she yelled back at him. She almost started towards the car but stopped herself. "Oh," she said softly as she fished around in her bag and held up three pokeballs beside the boy's face. When he didn't respond, she tapped one of them against his temple and offered him one last smile as she dropped them back in her purse and walked to the car.

The boy watched as they drove away. He could hear them arguing as the car moved down the street and even after it turned the corner and was out of sight.

His legs trembled and finally gave out, causing him to fall to the ground.

"Papa would never laugh at me," he thought. He tried to breathe to calm himself but a forceful, heaving sob escaped him instead. He clenched his teeth hard to prevent another sob from following the first but couldn't stop the tears from running down his cheeks.

The pichu called out to him causing the boy to quickly wipe at his face. He turned his head in time to see the pokemon had squeezed out of the woodpile and was running up to him. The pichu hesitated when he saw the boy's slick cheeks but then grabbed the child's wrist and pulled in the direction of the house.

The boy wearily looked towards where the pokemon wanted him to go. He pulled his arm free from the pichu and lifted his dingy t-shirt to finish drying his tears. He looked at the pichu when he felt the pokemon patting his arm.

"You want to get that ball for me," he said. He rubbed the back of his head with both hands trying to massage the new pain from the slap away, stopping when he came across a clump of hair that was matted with dried blood. The pichu nodded. "I guess you didn't see from where you were. She had it with her. She always takes it when she goes." The pichu's hopeful demeanor deflated instantly.

The boy watched this change in expression while he opened up the bag and reached for the bottle of medicine. He quickly looked over Robbie's note. He was too desperate for relief to take the time to measure it out, so he shook the bottle, as the note ordered, and took a big swig of the sugary syrup. Then another. The pichu's nose twitched when he smelled the sweetness of the medicine on the boy's breath.

"Hey, boy," a voice called out while the boy was putting the medicine back in the bag. His face twisted instantly in disgust and irritation before he even looked up. The man across the street had stepped onto his porch. "Are you okay? She knocked you around pretty hard this time. Do you need some help?"

"No," the boy said.

"I just made some dinner," the man said. "It's gotta be better than whatever Robbie packed in that bag for you. Why don't you come in here and have some with me?"

"He took the time to make this for me. It'd be rude not to eat it," the boy said.

A flicker of annoyance moved across the man's face. "At least let me help you get cleaned up," the man said, his words sounding a little more strained. "We can put some ice on that eye. I have some medicine I can put on those cuts, too."

"I'm fine. Thank you," the boy said. He grabbed the bag and growled under his breath as he forced himself up then walked towards the house's left side with the pichu at his heels.

"We can share this food if you're hungry," the boy said, fully ignoring the man now and focusing his full attention on the pichu.

The pichu's dour face instantly brightened at the offer. "That sounds nice," he said and bounced eagerly beside the boy.

The boy took the pichu's excitement as a yes. "Okay. There's a river behind the house. Let's go eat down there," he said as he glanced back at the spot where he'd been standing.

He was supposed to stay there until the woman told him he could move. That was another punishment for arguing with her but he knew she wouldn't be back until much, much later and would be so drunk she wouldn't be able to tell if he was there or not. Besides that, Robbie had ordered him before to keep away from that man and to go down nearer to the river whenever he and the woman would leave.

He looked down at the pichu, who trotted closely at his side as he walked. "Stay away from that man. Even if he seems nice. Something's really wrong with him."

His breaths were ragged from pain and now exertion making it even harder to understand him. The pichu tilted his ears to try and catch each of the boy's words.

"He's always trying to get me into his house for some reason. One time, he actually walked over here, grabbed my arm, and started pulling me across the street when I wouldn't come to him. Robbie saw and came flying out of the house, chased him down, and beat him up." The boy stopped walking, bent over, and put his hands on his knees to rest. After a few moments, the pichu heard a snicker come from him. "You should've heard him squealing and crying. He never tried that again." The boy lifted back up and kept walking.

He walked to the neighboring house and leaned his back against its side for another rest. He took in a few quick gasps to try to catch his breath and rubbed his belly as it gurgled. The medicine wasn't sitting well on his empty stomach.

"I've had to stand out there like that a lot. Sometimes all night when she stayed home before Robbie came," the boy continued as he peeked back at the man's house. The man still stood there staring. The boy narrowed his eyes and stared right back in his direction until the man backed down and retreated into his house.

"It's weird. He has people visit him sometimes. Usually, they're so drunk he has to help them inside. Some he actually carries into the house. Maybe they go home when I'm not in the front yard but I don't remember seeing any of them leave."

The boy looked at the pichu and noticed concern on the pokemon's face. "He's crazy if he thinks I'm ever going in there," he said, pushing off the house and slowly continuing his trek.

The pichu was about to follow but looked back at the man's house. The boy might not have been able to see him watching them from one his front windows but with the pichu's keen eyesight, he could.

He stared at the man for a moment before following the boy. He felt protective of the child now and worried for his safety but there was also joy and relief that rose up within him, too.

"What a mess this is…" the pichu thought with a shake of his head but then smiled. "At least I'm close to finding one of them. Papa will be so happy."

They continued down a worn path that lay between the two houses. On its left side sat a scraggly set of blackberry bushes. The boy glanced at them as he did every time he walked the path and thought back to the berry bushes that grew back home on his family's place. He and his cousins would snack on them while they played outside whenever the bushes were in fruit. He wished this one held some sweet, plump berries to share with the pichu but unfortunately it was too early in the year for that and the bushes had only just started putting on leaves.

They passed the bushes and kept walking until they came under the shade of a gigantic maple tree that stood behind the neighboring house. The boy glanced up, admiring the silver undersides of its leaves and the dark blue sky that occasionally peeked through its thick foliage as the wind moved through the tree's branches and caused its canopy to sway peacefully.

"Isn't that pretty," he asked the pichu, who nodded in agreement. "I love this big, old grandpa tree." He walked into the yard past the tree's strong, proud trunk to a shed that sat under it.

Between the shed and the remains of a garden plot that laid closer to the house was an old water hydrant. Somehow, despite the house seeming to have been abandoned for years and years, the hydrant still worked.

The pichu walked under the hydrant to examine it as the boy tossed the bag onto the grass away from them. "Might want to move." The boy grabbed the handle. "If I pull this up, cold water comes out of here fast," he said, pointing to the spout. The pichu backed away quickly, keeping his curious eyes on the hydrant. The boy lifted the handle all the way up and grinned when the water roared out and caused the pichu to jump.

He lowered the pressure, bent down, and put his mouth to the stream, drinking deeply to rid himself of the taste of blood in his mouth. He then cupped his hands, gathered some water in them, and carefully rinsed his face. He repeated this several times while his companion watched and finished up by scrubbing the water over his hands and arms till they were clean.

"Better?" he asked, looking at the pokemon.

"He looks worse now without the blood to distract from the bruises and swelling," the pichu thought but he kept his face blank and nodded.

The boy examined his hair to find the dried blood he had felt earlier. He thought about leaving it as his hair was already a dark red which would make the blood not too noticeable and mostly because he didn't feel like bending over again or having cold water hit his sore head but he decided against it. He pulled the hydrant's handle down to lower the water pressure even more and put his head under to scrub the mat out.

As he finished, he noticed the pichu had moved closer to the water and was stretched out on all fours towards the stream, carefully watching it. He stood and gripped the handle, ready to increase the pressure when the pichu got close enough but the pichu was a quick-witted and observant pokemon and noticed this instantly. He smirked at the boy and wagged a paw at him. The boy offered a half-smirk of his own and dropped his hand.

The pichu walked to the water. He held his paws up under the stream and smiled as the water splashed onto his pads. He stretched his tongue out and lapped at it. He then flattened his ears to keep as much water out of them as possible and walked under it, letting it fall over his head.

The boy lifted the handle to make it come out just a bit harder and laughed when the pichu launched away from the hydrant and gave him an amused, wide-eyed stare.

"You little snot," the pichu said with a laugh.

The playful, mischievous grin the boy wore tickled the pichu. He twirled once, let out a mighty growl, and ran under the stream of water then circled back and flew under it again. He did this a few more times, zig-zagging quickly around the yard while letting loose dramatic growls each time he cornered which made the boy laugh even harder before stopping to take one more drink and letting it pour over his head and back. He finally walked out from under the hydrant and shook, making sure he stood close enough to splash the boy with some of the water as he did.

"Felt good, huh?" the boy asked, rubbing his forehead with his fingers and squinting his eyes in pain. The laugh was good for his spirit but had made his head throb. The pichu nodded. The cool water had felt wonderful to him.

The boy turned the water off, grabbed the bag, and led the pokemon back to the path. After several minutes of walking down a slight hill, they reached the bank of the river.

The boy lowered himself to the ground and pushed the wet hair that clung to his forehead to the side with his palm. He let out a relieved little sigh as he felt the medicine starting to dull his pain slightly.

He opened the bag Robbie had given him and removed a sandwich, a bag of chips, and a can of soda. "You ready for dinner?" he said. The pichu perked up and nodded quickly.

The boy peeled the plastic wrap away from the sandwich and lifted one of the bread slices to examine the contents. "Ham and cheese. Good." He tore it in half and gave one side to the pichu.

The pokemon sniffed at it and his ears quivered excitedly. He was about to devour it but remembered the pain on the boy's face when he had doubled over earlier. He stared up at the boy child who noticed his worried look.

"Go ahead. I don't mind sharing with you. Actually, I'm happy I have someone to eat with. It feels like it's been forever. Robbie's going to bring more food later, anyway," he said while opening the bag of chips and setting it on the ground in front of them. He then popped the top of the can of soda and placed that down as well.

The fizziness of the can caused the pichu to lean towards it. He cocked his head back and forth as he listened to it hiss.

"Be careful drinking that," the boy said. "It tastes good but it'll burn if you drink it too fast."

The pichu set his sandwich down and lifted the can with his front paws, sniffing at it and shaking his head when the carbonated bubbles popped against his nose. The boy reached over to help steady the can but dropped his hand when he saw the pichu was managing fine. The pokemon's eyes narrowed after he took a couple of gulps of the cold liquid. He quickly placed the can down and pawed at his snout. The boy held back a grin as he watched.

The two sat there for a short time in silence after they had eaten. Outwardly, the boy appeared to be calmly watching the river's slow movement but inside he was fuming over what had happened earlier in the day.

"Boy," he said after a few minutes. It came out as a snarl which caused the pichu, who had been busy licking his paws and cleaning his face, to snap his head in the boy's direction. He took his eyes off the river and frowned at the pichu. "That's what she calls me. That woman says I don't have a name because she never cared enough to give me one but that's not true at all. I do have a name. It's Luka." The pichu's surprised face turned confused.

"I hate her," Luka continued. "She says horrible things to me, yells at me, and hits me all the time. Well, not as much now that Robbie's here but it's still a lot. She makes me go steal things and if I don't come back with something good, I get hit and have to stand out there until she tells me I can move."

"I hate stealing stuff," Luka said, the anger on his face quickly dissipating and giving way to a heavy amount of strain. "I'm not good at it and people get mad if they catch me. It's scary. I don't want to do it but I have to because she has that ball and she said she'll hurt him if I don't. I have to walk such a long way to get to a part of the city where there's anything worth taking, too, and I'm always worried she'll think I've run away and hurt that pokemon if the trip takes too long."

The pichu scooted closer to him and patted his back. Luka tried to offer the pokemon an appreciative smile but he couldn't manage it and turned back to the river.

His brows raised in surprise as he looked out onto the water. His rant had attracted the attention of a slowpoke who was staring at him while it lazily floated on the river's surface a little ways away from the bank. He had never seen one this close up the river. He watched it bob with the water's movement for a while before turning back to the pichu.

"Do you have a family?" Luka asked. The pichu nodded. The boy's face fell slightly. A part of him wished the pichu was alone so maybe he would stay with him but he knew how dangerous his situation was and was worried for the pokemon's safety if he did stay. He forced his own feelings down and spoke again.

"You should go back to them, then." The pichu only stared at him so he continued. "I'm going to be okay," he said with a nod. "Family is the most important thing in the world. You can't worry them. You have to go back."

The pichu's lips curled in amusement at the thought of the thrashing and lectures he would receive if he went back to his father after taking off like he did. He looked at the river and also saw the slowpoke, who was now paddling quickly after what he guessed was a fish.

The pichu shook his head. "You can't? Did you have a fight with them?" Luka asked. The pichu shook his head again and considered for a moment how to tell the boy about his problem. He looked at the dirt they were sitting on and drew a few letters in it with his paw.

"You can write?" Luka asked, incredulously. The pichu looked up and smiled. Luka covered his eye and leaned down. "Looking for-" he read. The pichu drew the faces of a vulpix and growlithe. Luka frowned and his gaze lingered on the growlithe.

"You left your family to look for those two? Are they your friends?" The pichu shook his head again and wrote more. "Uncles. I want to find them for my father," Luka read. He looked at the pichu. There was dread forming inside of him. This was feeling uncomfortably familiar.

"Someone took them away," Luka said. The pichu's face turned furious. His lips contorted into a grimace, exposing his sharp canines. He drew a giant R and then raked his paw through the faces he had drawn, leaving a set of claw marks through them. Luka looked at the letter and then the faces somberly. "Team Rocket took them..."

This was very bad news and Luka didn't know how to respond to it. Instead of trying, he looked away from the pichu and fixed his gaze across the broad river where he could see Goldenrod's famous department store towering above the trees and surrounding buildings on the other side.

The pichu smoothed the dirt to give himself a clean slate then patted Luka's knee to get his attention. "You don't think I can find them?" he wrote and looked at the boy intently.

Luka stared at the words then looked at the pichu and spoke with a gentleness that surprised the pokemon. "I don't know but you should never stop trying. I'd keep looking forever if I lost someone I loved."

He watched as the pichu gave him a resolute, agreeing nod then looked back at the house. Because of the unkempt backyard and how far the river's bank was from it, he could only see the tip-top of the roof and chimney.

"Don't get excited, okay?" Luka said. The pichu nodded. "That pokemon I told you about is a growlithe." The pichu looked unsurprised.

"You already knew?" Luka asked.

"I was certain it was him," the pichu wrote. "I caught his scent near here. Very faintly but I definitely smelled him," he said, tapping his nose.

"Was it near the street? In the little ditch by the electric pole?" Luka asked. The pichu nodded. "Wow. You have a great nose on you. That happened months ago."

"Anyway, that growlithe was never mine. I found his ball in that spot. She was always having people over before Robbie started living here. One of them must have had it and dropped it there without realizing."

Luka's brows furrowed and he became quiet, not knowing exactly how to explain what had happened. He was afraid the pokemon would think badly of him for the mess he had made. Because of this, he couldn't meet the pichu's eyes and instead fixed his gaze on the ground in front of him. The pichu noticed Luka's face growing increasingly stressed and rested his paw on his arm.

"I was stupid," he said, starting off slowly. "I saw the ball on the ground and thought the pokemon inside could help me get away from here."

"I released the pokemon but he was hurt. Three of his legs were tied together and he had a bunch of cuts all over him. He was really mad, too. I tried to get him to go back into the ball so I could hide it before she saw him but he wouldn't listen to me. He tried to bite me instead but he had a tight muzzle on so he couldn't. She noticed us and used her pokemon to beat him. He was weak from being hurt and he couldn't move well because of his legs, so he went down fast."

Luka looked at the pichu, shame and guilt heavy on his face. "I should've waited to open that ball. I should've tried to hide it," he said, shaking his head in disbelief. "She was standing right out there. I can't believe I did something so dumb. It's my fault she has your uncle now. I'm so sorry."

The pichu frowned at hearing the state his uncle had been in and at the boy's distress. He raised his front legs in the air and motioned for Luka to come closer with one of his paws. Luka did so, leaning down so his forehead rested on the pokemon's chest. He closed his eyes when he felt the pichu hug his head and pet his damp hair.

They stayed like this for a short time until Luka pulled back. "Thanks," he said, offering the pichu a little smile. The pichu gave him a warm smile in return but then looked at the house with determination and began walking towards it.

"No!" Luka launched forward, grabbed the pokemon by his front legs, and quickly swiveled him around to face him.

"Don't be stupid," the boy said. The pichu was so surprised by Luka's now harsh tone and fierce look that he could only stare at him. "She has a graveler and a granbull. There may be more, too. It's not a fight you can win. I already got that growlithe hurt worse than he already was because I didn't think. I'm not going to let that happen again with you."

Luka released him. "You can't do anything anyway. She's gone and she always takes the ball with her."

The pichu sat down and looked at the boy. "Do you know for sure that she takes it?" he wrote.

Luka's frown deepened. "I don't. She shows me three pokeballs when she leaves sometimes. Two for her pokemon and one that's supposed to be your uncle's. That third ball could just be one of her pokemon that I've never seen. I've only seen the graveler once so it's possible."

He stared up toward the house. "I've looked around in there a few times when she's left but I haven't found anything. Each time I tried talking to the growlithe and asking him to come out of the ball if he's there but nothing happened. Robbie's looked all over, too, and he couldn't find it either. She always knows if I've been in there even though I'm careful and gets mad so please don't try to go in the house. We have to be patient and wait for the right time, okay?" The pichu nodded. "We have to be careful. I don't want you to get caught by her. I don't want things to get worse than they are now."

The pichu looked at the boy's swollen and bruised cheek. "This is nothing," Luka said, gesturing at his face. "It's my fault she found him. I won't leave here until he can leave, too. I can handle it."

The severe look on Luka's face faltered and faded away. "I'm sorry I grabbed you like that and talked to you in that mean voice," he said. "Did I hurt your legs?" The pichu shook his head. "I just don't want you to get hurt." The child's face grew stern again. "Your uncle wouldn't want you to get hurt trying to save him either. Remember that if you get it into your head to do something dumb."

Luka's chastising tone amused the pichu and he smiled at him before looking back at the house. "Oh, Uncle," the pichu thought. "Sounds like you're in rough shape. Please be okay. Papa's going to be furious when he finds out about this. That woman better hope we find a way out of here ourselves and he doesn't show up while looking for me." The pichu's smile widened. "I hope the latter happens."

He looked Luka over for a moment. When he noticed some bruising around the child's upper arm, he lifted his sleeve to get a better look.

"Why hasn't that Robbie guy told the police that she hurts you?" the pichu wrote. "They could bring a psychic type and find the ball easily."

Luka flinched. He immediately looked sick and guilty and it took him a few moments to speak. "When they were fighting once, she said if he ever left her, she'd tell everyone that he did stuff to me and said I'd go along with it because I wanted to keep the growlithe safe. I don't know what she'd say he did but he made such an awful face when she told him that so it must be really bad. He's probably worried she'd say it if he told the police about how mean she is to me."

"Couldn't they use a psychic type to check if she's lying?" the pichu wrote.

"I guess Robbie doesn't think they will or else he would've gotten help by now," Luka said. He had grown pale and had started to tremble.

"What's wrong," the pichu asked, worriedly.

"I don't like to think about it because it makes me feel really bad," Luka said, his lips beginning to quiver now, too. "He's always been so nice to me but now he's trapped here, too. All because of me. I don't know what to do if she does tell people he's done bad things to me. I don't want to get him in trouble but I don't want the growlithe to get hurt."

The pichu bent to write more but Luka felt hopeless, frustrated tears coming and he quickly turned and sat facing away from the pokemon. He naturally didn't like anyone seeing him cry and his situation had only served to magnify that feeling a hundredfold.

The pichu moved to sit beside Luka. He didn't look at the boy's face, he wanted to let him have some privacy, but he also wanted to comfort him so he leaned his head heavily against the child's arm and sat with him, nodding when he heard Luka mutter a soft 'thanks'.

They stayed like that for several quiet minutes. The pichu only pulled away when he felt Luka stop shaking and his body relax.

He looked at the boy who was staring up at the leaves of the big maple tree, something he did often to calm himself when he was feeling upset. The pichu regarded him for a while. Feeling the pichu's eyes on him made Luka feel awkward and he eventually gave the pokemon a half-hearted glare. The pichu chuckled at the boy's angry face.

"I like you," the pokemon said. "You're a tough little nut. Smart and brave, too, with a good character. I wouldn't mind having you as my trainer."

Luka pouted. "I'm sorry. I don't understand pokemon talk."

The pichu dropped to all fours. He hopped around and attacked as if there was an invisible enemy in front of him while letting loose snaps and crackles of electricity. It made the hair on Luka's arms raise and his skin feel tingly. He watched the pokemon's mock fight silently as he rubbed at his arms. He was impressed by the pichu's quick movements and the control and power behind his attacks.

"You want to fight?" Luka asked. The pichu stood back up and nodded then held both paws out in front of him and acted as if he was eating something.

"A... hamburger? Oh, you like human food?" the boy asked. The pokemon made a joyful sound and nodded quickly. Luka shook his head and laughed.

The pichu wrote 'trainer' in the dirt and pointed at him. Luka stared at the word.

He wanted to protest. To tell the pokemon it wouldn't be safe. He could get hurt badly. That there would be times they'd have to go without food. That he didn't have a clue about how to get out of this mess and didn't know how long they'd be stuck here. He opened his mouth but the words wouldn't come. He had been lonely and miserable for so long. He didn't want the pokemon to leave him.

"I'd like that," he finally managed to say.

The pichu walked over to him and put his front paws on Luka's thigh. He nosed at the boy's arm until he lifted it, climbed onto his new trainer's lap, and stretched out.

Luka laughed despite the stress and worry he was feeling. "Why didn't you just write that to begin with?" He leaned to the side to better see the pichu's face. "Are you a show-off?" The pichu smiled widely, and Luka laughed again. He straightened up and ran his hand over the pichu's head and down his side.

"When we get away from here, we'll bring your uncle to the closest Pokemon Center and make sure he gets back to your papa when he's better. I'll help you look for your other uncle, too," Luka said. A quick thought ran through his mind that his papa could help as well. He worked for the government and had many run-ins with Team Rocket. Maybe he or one of his coworkers had come across an injured vulpix.

He began to tear up again while thinking about his papa. He wanted him so badly. The pichu sensed the sudden change in the boy and glanced back at him.

"What's wrong, bud?" the pichu asked. He lifted up on his front legs and rubbed his forehead against Luka's unswollen cheek.

Luka pushed the thoughts of his father out of his mind. "It's nothing. I'm okay," he said, his voice strained and a little bit higher pitched than normal. The pichu gave him a concerned smile. He lay back down and continued to watch him.

"You have to promise me something," Luka said after he had regained his composure. "You won't go near that woman. No matter what you see her do to me. Stay away from her and don't let her see you either." The pichu's smile disappeared. "You have to trust my judgment if you want me to be your trainer. Promise," Luka demanded, looking forcefully into the pokemon's eyes. The smile came back and the pichu gave him a nod. "Good." The pichu felt Luka's body relax as he let out a sigh.

"How did you learn to write?" Luka asked as his eyes scanned all the words his pokemon had scrawled in the dirt. The pichu leaned slightly out of Luka's lap and pointed to where he had written the word 'father' before laying back down. "Your papa taught you. That's so cool."

He looked down at the pokemon as he ran his fingers through the pichu's short, black mane. He filled Luka's whole lap to the point where his hind legs were spilling off onto the ground.

"You're really big for a pichu. I think you're bigger than a pikachu even," Luka marveled. "You're going to be huge when you're fully evolved. I bet you're going to be really strong, too."

The pichu nodded. "My father is big and strong," he said. "Most of his children got that from him. I wish he were here. This problem would be nothing for him."

Luka nodded politely at the pichu's chatter. "I don't have a pokeball for you," he said after a while, stroking the fur between the pichu's ears causing the pokemon's eyes to start to close and his head to rock with the movement of his hand.

"I guess that doesn't matter too much right now. But you do need a name. A pokemon partner has to have a name," Luka said as his hand moved to the side and he rubbed one of the pichu's ears between his fingers. The pichu looked back at him. His almond-shaped eyes were half-lidded and pure contentment had settled on his face.

"There's a book I had a long time ago that I loved. The main character's name is Johann. He's a big, strong mountain of a man. Just like you're a big, strong mountain of a pichu." Luka let out a breathy laugh and the pichu laughed along with him. "He's cocky but also very smart and kind and he takes care of all the people and pokemon he's close to. Johann. Do you like that name?"

"I do, Luka," Johann said with a nod.

Luka smiled and gave the pichu a gentle squeeze. "Johann it is, then."


	2. Sigge

Luka walked down the street, passing the faded stop sign that led out of the neighborhood where the woman's house was located. If you can call a stretch of road where the majority of homes were abandoned and falling apart a neighborhood.

He kept his gaze downward at the cracked, uneven pavement and listened to Johann's soft, pattering footfalls in the brush beside the road as he walked.

The woman had sent him out to steal again. He dreaded the long trip ahead of him, absentmindedly tugging on the bill of the ball cap she always made him wear to make him less recognizable and then adjusted a strap of the backpack she forced him to take along as he thought over the path he and Johann would be taking today.

"You don't have to come if you don't want," he said, keeping his eyes downcast. "I can do this myself. There's no need to drag you into it." Luka's lips pulled into a smile as he pictured the irritated look the pichu most likely wore now.

"You have to be tired of walking through all those backyards and then that bit of forest to meet up here just so she won't see you. The grass is pretty thick back there. It can't be easy. You could be napping in the shed right now."

The boy stopped walking. He knew they were far enough away from the house to be out of the woman's sight by now. He turned to his right and waited. When the pichu emerged from the grass wearing just the scowl he had imagined, he chuckled.

"Do you have to say that every single time?" Johann said, slapping his front paw on the road with every word to get his irritation across. "I'm coming and that's that."

"Okay. I'll stop," Luka said and began walking again. "It's just... I know stealing is wrong and I don't want you to have to do it, too." The boy paused and a look of earnestness came upon his face.

"Isn't it better to steal than let something get hurt or killed?" he said, looking at Johann for reassurance. The pokemon already had his friendly smile back and he gave Luka a confident nod which made the child feel better.

It had been three weeks since the two had first met. Luka's bruises had healed and his face wasn't a swollen mess anymore. He wasn't in any pain except for a slightly hungry belly.

The woman's verbal onslaught was neverending but she hadn't touched him since the day he met Johann. Luka figured Robbie must have threatened her. The two had gotten into such a fierce fight that night when they both got back that their yelling had disturbed Luka and Johann who were curled up together asleep all the way out near the shed. For his part, Luka had done his best to keep quiet and not talk back as the man had instructed and that seemed to be helping, too.

The road they walked led to a small, makeshift business district for this area of the slums. It held a gas station with one working pump, a general store where the older residents gathered to visit early in the morning, and a pub where almost everyone piled in to let loose and relax at night.

Luka never bothered to steal anything from the people around here. They were all poor. More importantly, they were all nice to him. The store and bar owners would occasionally give him food out of pity due to him being a bit thin and no one ever bothered him when the woman sent him out with money to buy things for her even though he would've been an easy target before Johann came along.

As the two approached the store, they could see the early morning crowd already assembled on its front porch. Robbie was there, as well. Something the store owner said tickled him and he was laughing.

One of the men noticed the pair approaching and raised his hand. "Hey there, boy. Hello, Johann," he called. Luka responded with a polite nod and Johann rose up to walk on his hind legs so he could wave back.

"Morning, you two," the store owner said. He reached behind him and gave the store's screen door a couple of sharp raps with his middle knuckle.

"Good morning," Luka said, watching as Johann climbed the porch steps and an older man bent over in his chair to run a rough hand over his head and down his back.

Robbie leaned over the porch's railing and regarded him with a sad smile. "Early morning, huh?"

"Yeah," Luka said as he pet the store owner's houndour who laid at the foot of the porch's steps. The pokemon's stubby little tail wagged in appreciation.

Robbie straightened up and fished a little money out of his pocket, holding it out to the boy.

"Here. Get something to eat," he said, motioning his head towards the store.

Luka thanked him, took the money, and was about to make his way up the steps but the store owner's wife stepped out with a smile and handed him a bag.

"Thank you," Luka said, handing her the money Robbie had given him.

"You're very welcome," she said.

Luka gave her and her husband a grateful smile and walked back to the road, waving towards the group. Johann tailed him closely, eyes locked on the bag of food the boy held in his hand.

"You leaving already, boy?" one of the men asked.

"Yes, sir. We have a long way to walk," Luka said and then turned to look at Robbie.

"Thanks," he said, holding out the bag. Robbie nodded and then looked confused.

"That looks pretty full. I didn't have enough money in my pocket to cover all that."

"I put a little extra in there for them," the woman said.

"Damn. I wish I was a cute, little kid so I could get free food," Robbie said with a laugh. Luka smiled. "Be careful out there."

"We will," the boy said. He turned and began walking again, throwing up his hand in one final wave.

He held the bag in one arm as he walked and pulled out a sausage biscuit then peeled back the plastic wrapping and handed it to Johann.

The boy unwrapped his own and was about to take a bite but stopped. Even though the pichu's mouth was latched around his own food, his eyes were focused intently on the biscuit in Luka's hand.

"Johann," the boy said sternly. The pokemon's wide, unblinking, almost feral eyes flicked to Luka's. Luka laughed when he saw the muscles on Johann's back twitch madly with excitement.

"Stop that. You and food..." Luka scolded. Johann smiled around the biscuit in his mouth and made his eyes even wider which sent the boy into a fit of giggles. "Don't make me laugh. I might drop mine."

"I wouldn't mind that," Johann said.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you? You're so greedy when it comes to food." Luka regarded him with a playful sneer. "Well, you're out of luck. I'd eat mine even if it fell on the ground and got dirt all over it." Johann chuckled.

Luka took a bite. While he chewed, he looked through the bag the store owner's wife had given him.

"She gave us some fried potatoes and two of those big chocolate muffins we like so much. There's milk, too. Let me know when you want a drink."

They continued on for close to an hour. Luka, from his many times of traveling into the busy part of Goldenrod, had found all the paths that would cut as much time out of the trip as possible. Johann was still very impressed with the boy's good memory and navigation skills even after going out with him a couple of times already.

When they got into a more active part of the city, they wandered around looking for anything they could easily snatch that wouldn't draw attention from any person or pokemon near them.

They found a bit of money on the ground near a street cart. A single golden earring on a curb. A small tape player left forgotten on a bench near a bus stop.

The trip would've been a bust but while cutting behind a few stores, they happened upon a truck transporting alcohol stock.

Luka waited for the man who was unloading the truck to go into the store before quickly grabbing one of the bottles out of its shipping container and running away.

When they had gotten far enough from the truck, the boy looked at the fancy bottle. It was very familiar to him.

"Skip's Midnight Reserve," the boy said, reading the label. He smiled at the bottle's embossed depiction of an umbreon dancing under a full moon and blanket of stars and rubbed his finger over the pokemon's joyful face and down to the slight feathering on the back of its forelegs.

This was his grandfather's favorite whiskey. Whenever the man had close friends over or there was any special occasion, this is what he'd serve.

"She doesn't deserve to have this," Luka muttered, hugging the bottle close to his chest.

He frowned and added the bottle to the backpack. Other than a pang of sadness from remembering his grandpa and disgust that the woman would be drinking the man's whiskey, he felt a little relieved. The liquor would make her happy. He wouldn't get yelled at or possibly slapped around later.

"Let's head back, Johann," the boy said. They cut across an intersection and through another alleyway before the two came to a stop.

In the distance, there was a van with its back door pulled up parked close to a store's rear entrance. There were a few crates filled with straw in the back, each held an egg nestled inside that was held down securely with a layer of netting, and several empty ones scattered on the pavement behind the van. A man was busy carrying them into the store.

"That's Bachmann's. I recognize the logo on the van. They're the best breeder out there," Luka said. "Their eggs are popular to give to rich kids as their first pokemon. As long as they can pass all those tests they make you go through, of course. They're very, very expensive but they're worth it because the babies come from excellent stock." Luka looked at Johann. "That's what I've heard anyway," he said.

He knew about the breeder because several of his immediate and extended family members had Bachmann pokemon. He remembered that he was supposed to receive one himself but the woman had taken him the week before that was set to happen.

Luka and Johann watched as the worker lifted the final one and both gasped when they saw the man's foot hit the corner of a discarded pile of crates, which caused him to stumble.

Luka placed his hands on the sides of his forehead in a half-hearted attempt to cover his eyes as he watched the egg tip out of the crate and slip through a corner of its netting that had come loose during transport. It hit the pavement with a hard thwack and rolled lopsidedly for a bit before stopping.

The man dropped the crate and ran to the egg. He hesitated over it for a moment then cursed before grabbing it and walking to the store's nearest dumpster. He placed the egg inside and covered it over with some broken-down boxes then ran back to the van, threw the empty crates inside, slammed down the door, and climbed behind the wheel. Johann shook his head as he watched the van drive away.

"How could he do that? No one will find it there. It'll die for sure," Luka said, horrified.

He almost didn't want to see how bad it must look to make the man react as he did but he couldn't leave it in the garbage. Johann had already set off towards the dumpster. Luka ran after him.

Once he got there, he jumped, grabbed the edge of the dumpster, and pulled himself up. Johann jumped up as well. Luka balanced on the top of the dumpster's front wall and pushed the boxes off the egg.

"Oh, no," Luka said. A large portion of the side of the egg was dented in and covered in a spiderweb of cracks.

Johann carefully navigated atop the garbage and walked to the egg. "No wonder he took off," he thought as he examined it. "It's in bad shape." He sniffed the egg and rubbed his paws around the perimeter of the cracks to check for leakage and let out a relieved breath when he found it was dry.

"What do I do?" Luka said, staring at the egg. "Should I bring it to the store and tell them what happened? What if they throw it away, too? No one would pay a lot of money for a damaged egg."

He leaned forward and rested his hands on the unbroken ends of the egg, frowning when he felt its warmth. He considered placing it in the bag and bringing it back with them.

"I don't know how to take care of a baby," he said, in response to the thought. Johann patted his chest. "You do?" The pichu nodded. Luka stared at the pokemon's assured face then slowly nodded. "Okay..."

Johann's face turned serious. He pointed to his muzzle and made a sucking motion with his mouth.

"Milk," the boy said. "It'll need milk." He thought for a moment. "I don't think we found enough money to buy any. I'll ask Robbie if he can get us some. I'm sure he will."

"Hopefully, it won't hatch before the next time we see him," Luka thought as he pulled the backpack off and unzipped it. He took out its contents, and with a little trouble, very carefully lifted the heavy egg and held it for a moment.

"Carrying this back is going to be hard," he said.

Johann was frowning now as he watched Luka's little arms quiver under the weight of the egg. "Can he do it?" he thought. "He's so small."

Johann motioned to the cracked part and pointed up then walked to the bag and held it open. Luka nodded and lowered the egg into the bag, leaning it on its side and making sure the damaged area faced up, then put the smaller items he had stolen in the bag's front pocket.

"There." He looked at the bottle of whiskey. The egg was already filling the majority of space in the bag. He couldn't put the heavy bottle in there with it, but he had to bring something good back to the woman to avoid getting punished.

He zipped the bag and turned to lower it to the ground but froze when he saw how far it was from where he sat.

Johann was about to jump down himself but noticed the boy was now leaning close to the dumpster, gripping it tightly with his eyes squeezed closed.

"Luka?" He patted the boy's head. The only response was a low, pained moan. He was alarmed now and said the boy's name louder. When Luka still didn't move, Johann smacked him with his paw. That was enough to snap the boy out of his frozen state.

He looked at Johann, and Johann pointed down. Luka nodded and slowly lowered the bag onto the pavement.

Johann would've laughed if it wasn't for the boy's wide, fearful eyes. "It's not even that high up," he thought as he hopped down and drug the bag away to give Luka a clear place to land.

Luka tucked the bottle under his arm, kept an iron grip on the dumpster with one hand, and slung his legs down. He dangled there for a minute before Johann spoke again.

"Let go, buddy," he said then covered his mouth with his paws to keep from laughing at the poor child.

Luka glanced over his shoulder at him, eyes still full of fear. Johann made his face stern and pointed at the store's open back door.

The man had forgotten to close it in his rush to get away. Realizing that at any moment someone from inside might see the open door and come to investigate, Luka let go and dropped to the ground with a pitiful little whine.

Once down, he wasted no time. He pulled the bag onto his back, groaning and swaying as he did. He had to lean forward just to offset the egg's weight and avoid tipping backward.

"I can't walk around out on the street holding this," he said, giving the bottle a frustrated shake.

Johann once again pointed at the door. Luka looked at it, nodded, and the two took off.

At the end of the alley, Luka stopped to rest and peered out onto the sidewalk, watching the crowd as they hurried by.

"There are only a couple of more busy areas we need to get through before we'll be away from all these people," Luka said.

He slipped the alcohol under his shirt and hugged his arms around himself to hide the bottle's shape the best he could. "Stay close," he ordered as he stepped out onto the sidewalk.

Johann trotted to match the boy's quick pace as he made for the intersection. The traffic had just started to move when they stepped up to the crosswalk so Luka took that as a chance for another rest. After a short time, he was about to push the button to walk but a hand reached over his head and pushed it for him.

He peeked around to see who the hand belonged to and caught the curious gaze of a gentleman who had stepped up beside him. He almost flinched when he felt a big hand rest atop his cap and watched warily as the man bent to get a better look at him.

One of his uncles had snowy white hair. This man did as well and it kept Luka's attention, causing him to stare at the man instead of looking away and ignoring him as the boy would usually do with overly curious people.

Despite his white hair, he wasn't an old man. He was approaching middle age and was tall and muscular. He looked strong. He was well put together with a nicely groomed beard, hair combed neatly into a side part, and was dressed smartly in a very nice looking suit.

The two things Luka took note of the most were his kind and concerned eyes, and how even bending over, he towered above him. The man reminded him a little of his father. His father was tall, too, and this man even had the same brown eyes he and his father shared.

He frowned deeply at the sudden reminder of his papa but caught himself, took in a sharp breath, and straightened his face. As he looked away from the man, his eyes met the man's espeon who stood opposite of him on the man's other side. The pokemon stared at him blankly, the sun hitting the orb on its forehead just right causing it to shimmer a lovely deep red.

Luka looked straight ahead again, trying his best to ignore the man and his pokemon. He had seen worry in the man's eyes and didn't want to alarm him any further. He didn't need anyone being nosey right now.

He failed, however. The man had seen how strained the boy looked and the quick flash of grief that had just moved across his face. He was even more concerned now.

"Are you okay, lad?" the man asked.

"Yes, sir."

The man looked at the boy's backpack and how much trouble he was having shouldering it. His eyes then went to Johann briefly as the pichu strutted toward him before looking back to Luka.

Johann rubbed against his leg. His goal was to draw the man's attention from Luka and onto himself but it didn't work. The man did remove his hand from Luka's head to stroke Johann but he kept his eyes on the boy.

"It looks like you're carrying a heavy load. Do you need some help?" the man asked.

Luka was very relieved when the signal changed. He clicked his tongue, calling Johann back, and set off immediately. He didn't want to be rude to the nice man so he turned slightly to look at him as he walked.

"I can handle it. Thanks for asking," he said politely, flashing a forced smile that faltered a bit when he saw that the man wasn't buying it.

He turned away from him and hurried across the street wishing desperately that he could turn right around and go back to the man, tell him everything about his situation, and give him the egg to deal with. Instead, he hung his head, locked his eyes on the road in front of him, and pushed forward.

Once he stepped on the sidewalk, he led Johann through the crowd of people and pokemon and disappeared into another alley, trying to put some space between them and the man just in case he was worried enough to follow them.

The way back was miserable for Luka. The weight was too much for him and he had to stop many times to rest, which made the trip take much longer than usual.

Johann encouraged him each time he stopped with a pat on his leg or by butting him with his forehead and at one point, he chased off a couple of curious sentret that had taken to following them a little too close for his liking.

Luka was glad the group that gathered in front of the store in the morning would have left by now. He wouldn't have known how to answer any questions about the tightly packed bag on his back, why he was panting so hard, or why he could barely walk without stumbling.

He slowed when he neared the stop sign. After several gasps to catch his breath, instead of continuing down the street that would eventually lead to the house, he cut off to the left into the woods that lined the road. Once they were deep enough that Luka was sure no one would be able to see, he placed the bag on the ground and knelt beside it.

He removed the liquor from under his shirt. He then grasped the egg and eased it out of the bag, replacing it with the alcohol. Luka stood again, wobbling a bit. He steadied himself and looked at Johann.

"I'm going to give these things we found to her. I want you to stay with the egg."

"Will do," Johann said and settled down snug beside it.

"I'll come get you two as soon as I can," Luka said.

He turned in the direction of the house and scowled fiercely, frowning made him feel a little braver, then exited the woods and stepped back onto the road. He held his head up and forced himself to walk normally the rest of the way.

The woman had noticed him approaching and was waiting for him in the open doorway. "You better have gotten something good," she said, taking the bag from him once he ascended the porch steps. "You were gone for a long time."

Luka said nothing while she opened it. Her eyes widened when she saw the whiskey. She examined the rest of what he had gotten looking far less impressed.

"This stuff is garbage. You better be glad you got that liquor," she said. She turned around and went back into the house, shutting the door in his face.

Luka let out a relieved sigh as he left the porch and walked to the path that led down to the river. He followed it, making a quick stop at the shed to grab a blanket that Robbie had given him and to also toss down his cap. He then walked the path until he found the small trail of trampled grass that Johann had been using to cut through the backyards.

He walked as quickly as he could through the thick, tall brush, thinking about how hard this must be for Johann with his shorter legs. After a while, he had made it through the two adjacent yards and had gotten to the edge of the woods.

Walking would be a little easier now but he hoped he wouldn't draw the attention of the aipom that lived in the area. He knew Johann had a run-in with them when he cut through here before. He had "knocked them right out of the trees" as Johann had put it when they had tried to mess with him but Luka was all alone and helpless. He quickened his pace.

Johann eyed the boy carefully when he came into view, looking for any blood or welts and smiled when he didn't see any. Luka smiled back.

"I made it," the boy announced, trying to sound triumphant but his voice only came out as a weak and weary croak.

Johann patted his face while looking intently at Luka's. The boy's brow furrowed.

"What?" Luka asked, touching his face. It felt hot and slick with sweat. "Oh. Is my face red?"

Johann nodded. "He's pushed himself too hard," he thought.

Luka shook his head and waved him off. "Don't worry. I'm fine," he said, spreading the blanket out.

He squatted down and was about to lift the egg when Johann grabbed the boy's arm. Luka paused to look at the pokemon's concerned face.

"I'm okay. I can rest when we get back to the shed. I can't be away from the house for too long now that she knows I've come back. If she calls for me and I'm not there to answer, she might hurt your uncle." Johann grimaced but nodded and let the boy go.

"You're a great little kid, you know?" Johann said, smiling sweetly at him. Luka smiled back. He touched his forehead to Johann's and rubbed them together. "He's so cute," the pokemon thought.

The boy placed the egg on the middle of the blanket, grabbed the blanket's corners, and hefted it over his shoulder then made his way back to the shed.

Once he reached it, he laid the egg down beside the shed's back wall. He then wiped the sweat from his brow and headed straight to the hydrant.

He felt some life return to him after a long drink and some water splashed on his face. Once he got back to the egg, he collapsed beside it and kicked his shoes and socks off. He and Johann sat in silence while the boy tried to recover from his exertion.

Johann took that time to think about the earlier events of the trip and smiled when he thought about the boy's little panic attack atop the dumpster.

"Scared of being up high, huh?" he wrote.

Luka pouted and quickly brushed Johann's words away with his hand. He then crossed his arms and looked away from the pokemon.

That little flash of anger caused a snort of laughter to escape the pichu. He slapped his paw over his mouth and trembled then pushed his face between Luka's shoulder and the shed's wall, trying to keep his amusement contained. A few more muffled snorts and giggles came from him before he regained his composure.

"I just have problems with heights is all," Luka said after Johann had quieted. "It's embarrassing."

Johann shook his head. "Nah, that's nothing to be ashamed of," he wrote.

"Hanging off the front of a dumpster because I was too afraid to jump down isn't embarrassing? And I've been trapped in trees a bunch of times and needed help down. That's the worst," he said. Luka smiled when Johann started laughing again. "I don't even have to be that high up. I just freeze."

"Well, it was brave of you to jump up on that dumpster then," Johann wrote.

"I didn't have a choice. The pokemon in here would've died for sure if we hadn't helped it," Luka said, bending over to examine the egg.

"It looks really bad but nothing's leaking out. That's a good sign, right?" he said, looking at Johann. The pokemon nodded.

Luka put his hands on the egg. "It's still as warm as it was before. That's good, too." The boy frowned. "I can't believe he threw it away. Just awful."

"Lucky we were there," Johann wrote.

Luka nodded, tucked the blanket around the egg, and looked behind him at the shed. "We'll put it in there," he said. "It's the perfect place. It'll keep the egg dry and safe. That woman never comes back here, but if she does, it'll be hidden from her. She can't get in the front doors because they have that lock on them and she wouldn't crawl into that broken spot in the back. Should we make a nest for it?"

Johann nodded and pointed to himself. "You want to make it? Okay. I'll leave that to you. Let me know if you need help," Luka said as he leaned against the shed.

The long walk usually didn't affect him as long as he had some food in his stomach. He was used to it. But it coupled with toting the egg and the big bottle of whiskey back had drained him. He was very tired and felt weak, a little nauseous, and overheated despite the day being cool. He gazed up at the large maple above him, very glad for the constant shade it provided.

He watched Johann as he rested. The pichu examined the taller varieties of grass closer to the river bank before breaking stem after stem with a quick bite, collecting them in his mouth, and bounding back to the shed.

Once inside, Johann looked around for the best place to build the nest. The shed was fairly empty. There was an old push mower, a stack of garden tools propped up in the corner near the front doors, and a shelf along the shed's left wall that held a rusted toolbox, jars filled with nails, screws, and bolts, and a couple of decorative tins filled with old seed packets. A small desk and stool sat near a couple of large crates along the back right corner of the shed on the other side of the wall from where Luka sat.

Johann hopped up onto the desk, dropped his parcel, and looked down at the crates. The left crate was filled full with old newspapers and the right stacked three-fourths of the way to the top with magazines.

He saw a curious outline on the cover of one of the magazines that he'd never noticed before as many times as he'd been in the shed. He stepped onto the crate, wiped the thick layer of dust off the magazine with his paw, and laughed.

"Naughty, naughty," he thought then stretched back toward the desk and took some of the grass in his mouth. He coiled it on top of the magazines in a circular pattern and went to get more.

Luka watched Johann as he went back and forth, finding it fascinating the care the pokemon showed as he picked out exactly which type of grass was needed. He was looking forward to seeing the final product.

He became alarmed when Johann stopped abruptly and pressed his ears forward toward the house. He sat up straight and glanced toward the side of the shed.

Johann grabbed the grass he'd collected and ran to the shed. He stopped and made a motion with his paw toward the house.

"Is she calling me?" Luka asked. Johann shook his head and then disappeared into the shed.

Luka looked at the egg then stared at the corner of the building again. He could hear heavy footsteps approaching as if someone walking in boots was nearing. He relaxed and leaned back on the building's side but still kept his eyes on its corner. A short time later, Robbie walked into view.

"Were you calling for me?" Luka asked. "I'm sorry if you were. I didn't hear anything."

Johann peeked out of the shed and glanced around.

"Don't worry. She's not back here. Just me," Robbie said. Johann gave him a grateful nod and sped off to get more grass. The man watched Johann then looked at Luka.

"I wasn't calling you. I thought a nice walk would feel good. I also wanted to bring you two something to eat since I won't be here later. My boss asked me to work tonight and offered some good pay so I took it." He handed a bag of food and a drink to Luka.

"Thanks. We really appreciate it," the boy said, placing them beside him on the ground.

"It's fine. I don't mind at all." Robbie's face turned concerned the more he looked at Luka. "Are you okay? You look rough. Did something happen?"

Luka hesitated and watched Johann slip into the shed again, dragging a mouthful of grass behind him. The pokemon had caught Robbie's attention as well.

"What's he doing?" the man asked.

Luka sat up. "We found an egg," he said, pulling it in front of him.

Robbie frowned. "Found or stole?"

Luka paused for a second. "Both, I guess. There was a guy carrying these eggs into one of the stores in the city. He dropped this one, freaked out, and threw it in a dumpster. I was scared they'd throw it away like the man did if I took it to the store so I brought it back here."

"Why would they throw it away?" Robbie asked, looking confused.

Luka peeled the blanket off the egg.

"Oh, damn," the man said. He crouched beside it and ran his fingers around the outer edges of the cracks. "Looks bad, kid."

"But there's nothing leaking out and it's still warm. See?" He took the man's hand and placed it on an unmarred part of the egg. Robbie was still frowning but nodded.

"He's making a nest then," he said as Johann caught his attention again. The pokemon was dragging another bundle of grass into the shed.

"Yeah. He said he knows how to take care of babies. I guess that means eggs, too."

"He's a wild pokemon?" the man asked. Luka nodded. "He probably has a bunch of brothers, sisters, and cousins he's had to help look after."

Robbie thought for a moment. "You'll need milk if it does manage to hatch. I'll stop by a Pokemon Center tomorrow. There's one pretty close to where I'm working tonight. It's the one across from the Goldenrod department store actually," Robbie said, pointing across the river in the direction of the two buildings. "I'll get you a bottle and some formula."

A relieved smile stretched across Luka's face. "Thanks. We were worried about that. He may know how to take care of them but he can't make milk."

Robbie smiled back. "No problem," he said and looked down. "I wonder what's in there."

"I know," Luka said confidently. "You can tell by the colors and patterns of an egg what type of pokemon is inside. See the brown and tan swirls here and here? It's an eevee egg."

The smile became even wider on Robbie's face. "I've always liked those. Cute, fluffy little guys. How did you know that?"

Luka frowned slightly. "I heard it somewhere. And Bachmann is known for their eevee."

Robbie's brows raised. "This is one of their eggs?"

"Yeah. The guy's uniform and the van had their logo on it. The egg has the logo stamped on it right here, too." Luka tilted the egg slightly so the man could see.

Robbie whistled. Johann, who had been leaving the shed at the time, cocked his head sharply at the sound. This made Luka chuckle. Robbie looked over his shoulder and whistled once more. They both laughed when the pokemon did it again.

"That was an expensive mistake," Robbie said, looking back at Luka. "I guarantee you he's going to lose his job over it. They'll also get the police involved if they find out he tossed it in the trash." His brow then furrowed.

"Their store is pretty far into the main part of the city. Is it the one beside that deli?" Luka nodded. "And you carried that big egg all the way back here by yourself?" Luka nodded again, this time a proud little smile pulled at the corner of his lips. "No wonder you look so worn out. How in the world did you do that? You're so little." Luka grinned and shrugged. "Tough guy," Robbie snickered and ruffled the boy's hair.

"You know you should've brought the egg to a Pokemon Center, though," Robbie said. Luka's smile faded and he nodded. "Still, I can understand why you didn't. I don't know much about pokemon but even I've heard of Bachmann's. If it can hatch, you got a top of the line pokemon right there."

"Yeah."

"Alright," Robbie said, standing. "I'm going to catch some sleep before I have to go in tonight. You rest, too, okay. See you guys tomorrow morning bright and early."

"Okay. Thanks a lot for the food," Luka said. Robbie waved as he turned the corner of the shed and headed back to the path.

Luka covered the egg back up and leaned against the shed again. He watched as Johann intently went about his work.

"Not even the food is distracting him and he loves food more than anything," Luka thought. He could tell the pokemon was almost finished, though, as he was selecting shorter tufts of feathery grass now. After a while, Johann poked his head out of the shed and motioned for Luka to come.

Luka grabbed the egg. He walked to the broken spot in the shed's back wall and pushed it through then crawled in himself. He found Johann standing on the desk near the nest and walked over to him.

"Oh, Johann," Luka exclaimed when he saw the nest. "You did an amazing job," he said as he ran his fingers over its edge where the coarser grasses were tightly intertwined. He then touched his hands to the thick layer of soft, fluffy grass lining the bottom and sides. He looked at Johann. "It's perfect." Luka laughed as Johann puffed up with pride.

Once the egg was settled in its nest, Luka bent close to it.

"Big brother Johann made you an excellent bed," he said softly while stroking its side. This brought a warm smile to Johann's face.

Luka grabbed the blanket and tucked it around the egg. "You rest and just focus on staying alive in there," he said and then turned to Johann.

"Johann, you deserve a rest, too. Want to go eat?" the pichu nodded quickly and jumped down from his perch.

They slipped out of the shed and sat down near the bag of food. Luka opened it and a delightful smell wafted out which caused Johann to jump about excitedly.

"He got a lot this time," Luka said. He examined the drink after slipping the straw into it. "Mmm, a milkshake. A big one, too. Johann, try this."

The boy had to hold it with both hands when he tipped it towards the pichu. "You know how to drink soda from a straw. This is a little bit harder."

Johann nodded and latched onto it. He sucked in and looked confused when the contents didn't immediately rush out like what he was used to. His eyes focused on Luka's for an explanation.

"Keep at it. I see it coming up," the boy said as he watched the light-colored fluid rise slowly up the straw.

Luka knew the moment the ice cream hit the pokemon's mouth. Johann's eyes widened and he let go of the straw, holding his mouth open slightly as he moved his tongue around, examining the taste.

"It's going back down," the boy pointed out. The pokemon grabbed the straw and quickly tried to drink more.

"Be careful. Remember how the soda sometimes hurts your head? These can do that to-"

He didn't get a chance to finish before the pichu's ears flattened and he squeezed his eyes closed. Luka laughed, pulled the drink from him, and took a sip himself. He then put it down, reached over, and massaged Johann's head with his fingers. When the pokemon had recovered, the boy started pulling food out of the bag.

"He got a bunch of chicken. Ooh, he got those cheddar peppers, too. I love those." Luka handed one to Johann. "They're a little bit spicy but not too bad. Kinda like the hot sauce Robbie put on the pizza he brought the other night."

Johann bit into. Luka could tell from the ecstasy on the pokemon's face that he was enjoying it. "Good, huh?" Johann nodded enthusiastically. He held his paws out for another and Luka handed him one.

They ate silently for a while until Luka noticed something out in the river. "Look. There's that slowpoke again." Johann, who was about to take another swig of the milkshake, stopped and looked. Both Luka and Johann laughed as it walked up the river's bank and rolled over onto its back with its legs flailed open to sun its underside.

"I wonder why he's sticking so close to this area," Luka said. "I'd offer him some chicken but I want to save some for dinner."

He looked at Johann. "I don't know if you heard but Robbie is working all night. That's why he brought us this food early. He also said he'd bring us some milk in the morning for the egg if it hatches." Johann nodded, picking up a chicken tender and gnawing on it with his back teeth. Luka also grabbed one and took a bite.

He watched the slowpoke as he ate. A water type would work nicely against that woman's graveler and its psychic typing would help find Johann's uncle's ball easily should the woman not be willing to give it over but... it was a slowpoke.

His face turned grim as he remembered asking his father how one would go about training a slowpoke as he had always been interested in the pokemon. He had said they have to be taught to focus and that it takes a lot of time and much patience to do. Luka didn't have a lot of time and the pokemon wasn't even his.

He peeked at Johann out of the corner of his eye, then back towards the river. A pichu would be no help at all against a graveler and neither would an eevee if the egg did hatch. Johann touched the boy's knee which pulled him from his thoughts.

The pichu patted his forehead and Luka sighed.

"I was just thinking about how that slowpoke over there would be a big help against a graveler and that he could use Psychic to find the ball if she won't give-" Luka stopped when Johann gave him an amused and doubtful look.

"I know. I've," Luka hesitated for just a second. "...heard somewhere that you can train a slowpoke to focus on a trainer's commands but it takes a lot of time and work. I just want us to get out of here now."

Johann leaned over and rubbed his head against the boy's arm. Luka smiled softly at him.

"If papa was here, he'd destroy that graveler," Johann said. "All it would take is a smack from that tail of his or even just a swipe of those big claws."

He held his paws pad side up and flexed them, watching as his claws elongated. They weren't anywhere near as threatening as his father's. He bent down and wrote in the dirt.

"I wish I hadn't put off evolving. I could've gotten us out of here easily if I was fully evolved." Luka stared at the words for a moment.

"Johann? I was wondering something. I used to think that pokemon in their first stages were really young. Like actual babies. You don't act like a baby at all."

Johann smoothed the dirt and wrote some more. "I'm an adult. I didn't want to evolve until my uncles came back so they could be there to see it happen." Johann stopped and looked up at Luka waiting for him to finish reading.

"How old are you?" Luka asked. Johann scratched a '2' into the dirt. Luka laughed. "Two? Two years old?"

Johann chuckled. "Pokemon mature a lot faster up here than you humans," he wrote before looking up at Luka, patting his head, and giving the boy a mock sneer. "Have to if they want to survive out in the wild. My father is only five and he leads one of the largest groups of pokemon in our area."

"He's a couple of years younger than me. That's so weird. So he's the big boss?"

Johann nodded. "He told me to evolve but I kept putting it off. Foolish." To add emphasis, he dug a deep gash under the last word.

Luka shook his head. "No, you weren't. Of course you'd want your whole family together for such an important thing."

Johann smiled at Luka, which in turn caused the child to frown. Johann's usual confident, jovial expression was gone and in its place was a great amount of sadness. This smile was wrong and out of place and it made the boy uncomfortable.

Luka put his food down and wrapped Johann in a tight hug, which Johann returned.

He rested his head against Luka and wondered if his father was still out looking for him. He had snuck off in search of his uncles once before and was promptly found by his father and taken back to their group. He hadn't gone into a large city where heavy foot traffic would make following his scent almost impossible, however. As unlikely as it seemed, he still hoped that his father could. That was one reason he made sure to go out with Luka when he was sent to steal. He hoped his father could somehow pick up on his scent and be able to follow him back here.

"I hope you're still looking for me," he thought. "I need you."

Luka gave him a rub with his cheek and sat up straight again then let out a little laugh. Johann looked at him questioningly.

"Talking about your family just made me think of something. People call groups of pokemon different things. Like a herd of miltank or a murder of murkrow. Well, a group of raichu is called a Dazzle. A Dazzle of raichu. I was told it's because a raichu's fur glows when it's dark and when there are a bunch together, they glow really brightly at night. That always makes me laugh when I think about it for some reason."

Johann laughed. "That sounds so silly but it's fitting," he wrote.

"Anyway, you'll have to be the one to look after the egg. Which means you can't come out with me for now and we won't be able to do any training either." Johann already knew this but still frowned. Luka noticed and reached over to stroke the pichu's head.

"Hopefully it won't be long. Maybe being shaken around like it was will make it want to get out of there faster," he said with a smile.

"It's going to be boring being stuck to an egg," Luka continued. "Would you like me to tell you some stories while you lay beside it? I remember a few. And I can look through those old newspapers to see if there's anything fun that I can show you, too. There's a comic about a raichu named Bub. I like that one. I'll see if I can find it to show you if the egg still hasn't hatched tomorrow."

"Not anything from those magazines, though," Johann said with a laugh.

They ate their fill, took turns drinking the milkshake till it was empty, and wrapped up the rest for later. Luka took the food and entered the shed. He placed it on an empty spot on the shelf then walked over to where the egg rested.

"You ready?"

When Johann nodded, he held the blanket up while the pokemon jumped onto the crate and settled into the nest.

"You're probably pretty tired," he said as he watched the pichu snuggle in beside the egg. He covered Johann and the egg loosely. "Rest good, you two."

He began to walk toward the crack in the shed. Johann poked his head out of the covers and called to him causing Luka to stop and look at the pokemon.

"Don't worry. I just want to sit outside for a bit," he said before exiting the building.

Luka stopped momentarily and stared at the slowpoke who was still stretched out on the bank, enjoying the sun's warmth. The pokemon looked so peaceful. Luka felt bad that he had even considered dragging him into this mess.

He sat on the other side of the wall from where Johann and the egg were. As he stared out at the sun-speckled river, his mind went to that man at the intersection from earlier.

"He was nice," he thought. "I wonder what would've happened if I had told him everything. I could've asked him to call papa and come back here like normal, but he probably wouldn't have let me come back by myself. He seemed to already know something was wrong. I couldn't have told him the address either. I only know my shortcuts to the city and back. I don't think It would've worked out."

He couldn't stop himself from peeking out over the river and specifically toward the Goldenrod department store.

"That's not true," a small voice argued back in his mind. "Anyone with a flying pokemon could easily find it. Just cross the river from that store. Look for a shed sitting under a large tree behind an old, fallen down house…" He frowned as his best excuse fell flat.

He hung his head, feeling ashamed and a painful lump of fear and anger at himself settled in his stomach. This wasn't the first opportunity he had passed up where he could've possibly gotten help. The truth was he was too afraid to even try. He was so worried something bad would happen.

Faintly, he could hear Johann beginning to talk to the egg and a small, slightly quivering smile crossed his lips. The pokemon's voice sounded so soft and gentle.

He laid his head against the paint chipped wall of the shed, grateful for the interruption to his thoughts, and focused on listening to Johann. It was soothing to him and after a while, he fell asleep.

Several hours later, a loud sound woke Luka. In his still half-asleep state, he hadn't realized what had made it and got up and ran to the side of the shed before he even knew what he was doing.

He waited to see if he was being called. He heard nothing. Confused, he looked around and noticed large ripples on the river's surface and the slowpoke missing from its bank. His sleepy mind realized what the sound had been and his body relaxed.

The sun was hanging low behind him now, glinting off the windows of the bigger buildings across the river and giving the trees along its bank a rich, golden glow. Nighttime would be coming soon.

Luka leaned his head into the shed and listened. Johann was quiet now.

"He's sleeping," the boy thought. It had been a few weeks since he and Johann met and they had been together for the majority of it. Luka felt very lonely now not being able to look down and see the pokemon somewhere nearby.

He hugged his arms around himself to ward off the chill that was starting to set in the air and walked to the hydrant to get a drink just for something to do.

He looked up at the security light that stood close to the shed as he walked, relieved that it had already come on. He hoped it would last. Some of the streetlights along the road had burned out and he didn't want to be out there alone in the dark.

"Maybe Johann talking to it will make it hatch faster," he thought as he reached the hydrant. "It should be soon. They don't sell eggs until they're almost about to hatch. I remember papa telling me that when I was about to get one of my own."

He let his hand rest on the cold metal of the handle but didn't lift it this time.

If he were back home right now, the grownups would be preparing dinner and he and his cousins would be outside playing. They'd be called in shortly and washed up then everyone would sit and enjoy their meal together. Instead, he was here alone with his main source of comfort stuck to an egg.

Luka bowed his head and leaned onto the hydrant. His vision grew blurry. He didn't make a sound because he didn't want Johann to hear and come see about him but he did let the tears slide down his cheeks.

He didn't know that Johann was watching him from the shed's side. The pokemon felt some movement from inside the egg and had come to fetch the boy but stopped when he saw him doubled over the hydrant.

When he saw the child's shoulders quiver slightly and realized he was crying, he flattened his ears, backed up, and crouched down so Luka wouldn't be able to see him should he turn around. He knew just how much the boy hated anyone seeing him show weakness.

It was only a short time before Luka turned the hydrant on to a slow trickle, gathered a little water in his hand, and rubbed it on his face. Johann stood and ran over to him.

The boy heard him approaching and lifted his shirt to dry his face. When he looked at Johann, he was greeted with a giant smile. The pokemon twirled a couple of times excitedly and ran toward the shed, looking over his shoulder.

Despite his earlier turmoil, a small smile formed on Luka's face and he took a step forward. Without a word, he ran after Johann who had taken off toward the crack in the shed once he saw that the boy was following.

Luka entered the building. It was much darker inside now that the sun was setting but thanks to the security light shining through the shed's dingy windows, he could still see fairly well.

He walked to Johann who had situated himself in the nest and stared down at the bulge in the blanket. Johann pushed the cover off the egg and reached for Luka's hand, placing it on the egg.

Nothing happened other than Luka noticing it felt even warmer than before. Johann frowned.

"Don't get shy now," the pichu said. "Come on. Move for big brother." The egg jerked in response.

Luka's face beamed and he looked at Johann. "It's going to be okay, isn't it?"

Johann nodded. He bent close to the egg, putting his muzzle to the shell. "You're going to hatch and become a strong, healthy pokemon. You hear me?" He patted the egg and it responded with two shakes this time.

"That's great," Luka said but then his face fell into a worried look. "I hope it doesn't hatch until tomorrow. We won't have anything to feed it if it hatches now."

Johann's smile disappeared. He remembered a time when one of his sisters had trouble nursing her newborn twins. It took his father and the others a couple of days to find a mother from another group willing to feed them alongside her own babies. The babies did survive. One grew up as big and strong as the rest of the family but the other's growth had been stunted and he was always sickly.

Luka noticed Johann's worried face and placed his hand on the pokemon's back.

"Don't worry," he said quickly. "Robbie said he'll bring us some milk in the morning. It's moving slow, so it shouldn't hatch right now, right?"

Johann nodded. "Yeah, it's just starting. It shouldn't hatch tonight," he thought. "You sit tight in there until I say you can come out," he said to the egg with a little chuckle.

Luka covered the egg up and grabbed the leftover food off of the shelf then he and Johann exited the shed. Luka watched as Johann walked to an especially thick patch of grass, stretched heartedly, then fell over on his side and wallowed.

"Looks like that feels good," Luka said, sitting down against the shed.

"Gotta get that dusty, old smell off my fur," Johann said, lifting up and coming to sit with the boy.

"Johann, can babies eat meat right after they hatch?" Luka said as he opened the bag and pulled out the contents for easy access.

Johann shook his head. "No teeth," he wrote. "They do grow in very fast, though."

"I guess there's no point in saving any of this for it then."

After they ate, Luka cleaned up and they settled down for the night. Johann went back to cuddle with the egg and Luka told him some of the stories he remembered the older members of his family had told him and his cousins. This went on until well after the sun had set.

When he noticed Johann had finally fallen asleep, Luka tucked the blanket around him and the egg. He never liked being in the shed when it was dark so he stepped outside.

He walked to the grass Johann had rolled in earlier, dropped down, curled up tightly to try to fend off some of the cold nighttime air, and looked out onto the river.

Watching the lights from the buildings glitter along the surface of the ever moving water was comforting to him. He watched those lights often to help him fall asleep and especially to distract him from his craving for a soft, warm bed with thick blankets to pull up around his ears. Sometimes he was lucky and could see a cluster of staryu's soft pulsating glow or a starmie's illustrious light show as they moved through the river.

He didn't need much help getting to sleep this night. He was exhausted despite his earlier nap. His eyes were soon closed and he was lulled into a dead sleep by the gentle calls from the numerous noctowl and hoothoot that made their home in the nearby woods.

He woke early that next morning with something cold and wet pressing onto his forehead. He opened his eyes to Johann smiling down at him. He returned the smile and reached up, grasping the pichu by his head and giving him a scratch under his ears.

"You're such a cute kid," the pokemon said and gave him a quick lick on his forehead.

Luka looked around to get an idea of the time. It was very early. The sun had only begun to color the sky with a faint painting of gold, peach, and the softest blue above the trees and buildings across the river. Thankfully, the security light was still on and it surrounded the shed and parts of the yard in a halo of its light.

Luka sat up quickly when he remembered the egg and looked at Johann. "It hasn't hatched yet, has it?" he asked. Johann shook his head and motioned for him to follow before flitting off toward the shed.

When they got to the egg, Luka rested his hands on it and grinned when it wiggled vigorously under his touch. Its warmth felt wonderful so he let his cold hands linger on it.

"It's close, isn't it?"

Johann nodded. He pretended to yawn while patting his mouth with his paw.

"It kept you up last night?"

Johann nodded emphatically. "All night. I spent more time talking to it than I did sleeping."

"That wasn't very nice." Luka leaned close to the egg. "I'm so glad you're okay. I was worried about you," he said as he covered it back up.

They left the shed and froze when they saw the slowpoke was closer up the yard this time. It was chasing something through the grass. Their movement caught its attention and it stopped and turned toward them. The security light caught its eyes and caused them to flash with a greenish-blue hue.

Luka shivered. "Spooky…" Johann looked up at him and smiled.

"I wonder when Robbie's getting off of work," Luka said. He pulled his eyes off the slowpoke and walked to the corner of the shed to peek at the path. The security light only reached the path up to a certain point and it was empty as far as Luka could see.

He turned and looked out over the wide river. He could see the Goldenrod department store looming over the other buildings but it was the brightly illuminated Pokemon Center and it's red roof that drew his attention the most.

A man who worked at a Pokemon Center had once come to his school and taught his class about safety. One of the things he spoke about was if any of them got lost or if a stranger ever took them and they were able to get away, they could go to a Pokemon Center, tell the staff their name, and they would help get them back home. He and his staff had registered each child's names and addresses and had even taken their fingerprints as a safeguard.

He wondered, as he had done many times before if that's what he should do. The closest Center was pretty far away. Could he get there and could they help him before too much time had passed and the woman became suspicious?

His father could be very scary when he wanted. If he could quickly tell his papa about Johann's uncle, could he get here fast enough to force her to give the pokemon over before she had a chance to hurt him?

It seemed too dangerous to him. There was too much of a chance she would figure out what was going on and kill the growlithe. She would do that just to get back at him.

Also, there was a small knot of worry within him. What if that woman was right about him making his family up? It was stupid, he told himself just like every other time this worry popped up to nag at him. His memories of his family and home were so strong but they also felt foreign to him now. Like it had been another child who had experienced them and he was just viewing those memories as an outsider.

He realized that he had been lost in thought and looked to see if Johann had noticed, which he had. The pokemon sat right in front of Luka, looking up at him with concern.

The boy knelt down. He had such a fierce desire to tell Johann everything overtake him. He opened his mouth and tried to talk but nothing came out.

Johann, who was now alarmed by the distress on the boy's face, walked closer to him and placed his front paws on the boy's hands. He looked up at Luka and patiently nodded for him to speak.

Luka stuttered for a bit and his eyes teared up. He looked away from Johann towards the river and through his blurry vision, he could see a pink blob also watching him. He frowned, feeling embarrassed, and tried to blink back the tears.

"It's okay, kiddo," Johann said as he gripped the boy's hands in his paws. Luka sighed and his whole body sagged as if something heavy had sat itself on his back. He looked back to Johann and then shook his head.

"I'm sorry." Luka pulled one of his hands free from the pokemon and wiped the tears away before they could fall.

"I really am a coward," he thought, angrily. "How are we going to get out of here if I'm too scared to do anything?" He looked at Johann. "A pokemon shouldn't have to see his trainer being weak like this." Luka forced a smile and then pet between the pichu's ears. Johann scowled and shook his head.

Luka removed his hand, resting it on his lap, and looked towards the river again. The slowpoke was still watching. Luka let his eyes linger on the pokemon, wondering why it was so curious about them, before looking at the sun hanging over the buildings across the river.

"We missed the sun coming up. That's too bad."

Johann quickly turned toward the house, his ears standing straight on end, and looked reluctantly back at Luka.

"Go," Luka said. Johann sped to the shed and jumped in.

Luka turned to watch for whoever was coming and his face lightened when Robbie eventually came into view.

"I made it through the night," the man exclaimed.

Johann slipped out of the shed and trotted to them.

Luka smiled at Robbie. "Was it hard?"

"Not too bad. The work went quickly. We got it finished." Robbie placed a couple of bags down beside Luka.

"There's some formula and a couple of bottles," he said, pointing to one of the bags. "And a brush. I told them we thought it was an eevee egg so they gave me that and told me to brush its mane and tail every single day so it won't get all knotted up. They were very insistent about that."

"I will. Thanks."

"Sure. It was no problem. Has it hatched?" Robbie asked.

"Nope. It's been moving around a lot in there, though," Luka said.

"Is it really? I want to see."

Luka walked to the shed and he and Johann entered. Robbie followed and tried to squeeze through himself. He got halfway in before stopping.

"I don't know if this is a good idea," he said with a suffocated laugh. Robbie was a fit man. He had to be since he worked in construction all day but the crack was just small enough to give him trouble.

Luka held back his own laugh but Johann didn't. The pichu fell on the floor, laughing and kicking his legs at the sight. Robbie glared at Johann and reached out and grabbed one of his back legs, pulling it, which caused the pichu to playfully bite at his hand. The man struggled one last time and made it in.

"Phew," he gasped, rubbing his sides as he stood and moved to where Luka and Johann were near the egg.

"This is a great nest you made, Johann," Robbie said when Luka uncovered the egg. Luka smiled as Johann puffed up again.

"Aww," Robbie cooed, as the egg rocked gently. He smiled and placed his hands on it. Every so often, it would lurch violently back and forth. "You're ready to get out, huh?"

"It's moving a lot more now," Luka said and looked at Johann who was sitting in the nest beside the egg. "It's going to hatch today for sure, isn't it?"

The pokemon responded with a nod. "I'm certain it will," Johann thought and looked around the dark, dusty shed. "What a dull first sight this would be. It shouldn't be born here."

He leaned close to the egg and spoke softly. "I don't want your first view of the world to be this dark place. You should see the sky, grass, and that big tree above us. You should feel the wind on your fur and hear all the different sounds." He looked at Luka, patted the egg, and pointed at the opening in the opposite corner of the shed.

Luka followed the pichu's paw. "You want the egg outside?" Johann nodded. "Okay." Luka slipped out of the shed and looked around its corner toward the house. He spent several moments listening to make sure the woman wasn't anywhere around. When he was sure she wasn't, he entered the shed and picked up the egg, holding it securely to his chest.

He couldn't help but snicker this time as he watched Robbie struggling to get out. It was an even more awkward ordeal because the man tried to slip out legs first. Once he made it, Luka handed the egg to him and exited himself.

Soon they were all settled on the ground with the egg in the middle. They watched it bounce around for a short time.

"So, what are you going to name it?" Robbie asked, breaking the comfortable silence.

"Sigurd if it's a boy. Sigge for short. I'm not sure if it's a girl." Luka said.

Robbie kept his eyes on the egg and a smile spread across his lips. "Johann and Sigge. Good names. I had all those books when I was a kid, you know," Robbie said. "Still love them."

Luka grinned, happy that Robbie got the reference.

"I want to sleep but this is too exciting. I've never seen a pokemon being born before," Robbie said. He rubbed his hands over his face and yawned then leaned over, picked up one of the bags, and handed it to Luka.

"Got you two some breakfast." Johann perked up immediately and rushed towards the bag, sniffing it.

"Thanks," Luka said. As he placed the bag beside him, he noticed the slowpoke was still close by staring at them.

"Johann, he won't try to eat the eevee when it hatches, will he?" Luka said, nodding his head toward the slowpoke. Johann laughed and shook his head. Luka thought for a moment. "I remember hearing that they only eat fish, bugs, fruit, and certain grasses that grow near water in the wild."

Johann nodded. "He's just curious about all the activity," he thought. "Even a slowpoke can get curious about things, I suppose."

"So, nothing to worry about?" Luka asked.

Johann shook his head again.

"I'm glad you know how to take care of babies, Johann," Robbie said. "I have no idea about that stuff."

Johann scratched around in the dirt a bit so he could write in it.

"What's he doing?" Robbie asked and then noticed Johann was starting to write something. "Did you teach him how to write?" the man said, wonder in his voice.

"No. He said his father taught him," Luka said.

Robbie looked at Johann, regarding his large size and his face grew concerned. "His father? We aren't going to have a gigantic wild raichu show up here looking for him, are we?"

Johann grinned. "That's what I'm hoping," he thought.

"I wouldn't mind. I want to see how big he is. He must be a monster," Luka said.

"I do. Wild raichu are known for being mean. Even some of the tame ones are said to be hard to handle." Robbie said.

"They aren't really mean," Luka replied. "They're just kind of sassy and don't like to be told what to do if they don't respect you. There are several fully evolved pokemon that tend to be like that."

"The only well-behaved ones I've seen are the ones used by the security at the Pokemon Center and the police," Robbie said. "Oh, and the ones they use to herd the sheep pokemon on that big farm near Ecruteak city."

"You actually saw some that the police and Pokemon Center use?" Luka asked excitedly. "How did you know? Were they wearing the vests?"

"Yep. I saw one in Ecruteak a few weeks back and I see them all the time here in Goldenrod. The one in Ecruteak was a big guy. He and his trainer walked by me, he was on all fours, and the tip of his shoulder blades went above my hips."

Johann's eyes widened.

"His paws were huge," Robbie continued, holding out his hands and spreading his fingers slightly. "And his tail was this thick." He made an "O" with his middle finger and thumb.

"Wow," Luka said. "I wish I could've seen him."

Robbie looked at Johann. "Is that how big your father is?" Johann nodded. "Is he at least as good-natured as you are?" Johann laughed and shook his head quickly.

"He hates humans," Johann wrote. "Despises them."

Robbie's face turned even more worried, and Luka's brows raised.

"Because Team Rocket took his brothers?" Luka asked. Johann shook his head which made Luka frown. "Even before that?"

"Did the big raichu you saw in Ecruteak look happy?" Johann wrote, looking at Robbie.

"He did. Actually, he had that same cocky smile that you're always wearing."

"Is he part of your family?" Luka asked.

"I'm pretty sure he is," Johann wrote and looked at Robbie. "On one of his front legs, did he have brown on only his toes instead of going up the leg like normal?"

"Yeah. On his right front leg, I think," Robbie said.

"That's one of my brothers."

"I bet your papa didn't like him being caught by a human," Luka said.

Johann shook his head. "He wasn't caught. It was all my father's doing." Luka and Robbie looked confused.

"I was surprised, too. The gist of it is my brother enjoyed fighting a little too much. Papa was worried he'd get himself hurt badly or killed because he was challenging everything he came across. He was hurting our relations with the other pokemon groups that were near us and even attacked other members of our own group. Last time I saw my brother, he went after our father." Johann had to stop here to laugh. "It was a short fight. Actually, I wouldn't even call it a fight. Papa tore him up and chased him off. It was only papa that came back and much later. Turned out he brought him to Ecruteak's Pokemon Center and asked them to put that fighting spirit to good use."

Johann stopped there and wiped at the dirt to give himself a clean slate. "His reasoning was that my brother could fight all he wanted and they would take care of him."

"But you said he hates humans," Luka said, still confused.

"He does. He didn't have a choice because my brother was acting up so badly. He said the Pokemon Center does a lot of good for wild pokemon and sometimes its security teams also fight against Team Rocket alongside the police so there's no shame for a pokemon to work for them. This happened after my uncles were taken so that was also a reason for his decision. He wanted to have someone who knew them at a Pokemon Center to check out any growlithe or vulpix that might show up or possibly be found at any Team Rocket raids."

Johann looked at Robbie, narrowed his eyes, and set his mouth in a grouchy scowl. He pointed at his face and then bent and wrote some more. "If you see a big raichu with a face like this, that's my father. Tell him how to get here."

Robbie read the message and scoffed. "No way. I'm not doing that."

"He's not one of the unintelligent feral pokemon. He won't randomly attack you," Johann wrote. "He can get that ball from her easily and then we'll all be free."

"She has a graveler, Johann," Luka said.

"Won't be a problem for him," Johann wrote. He looked at Robbie expectantly.

"Alright," Robbie said, still looking doubtful. He laid back on the grass and stared up at the tree for a moment, still frowning. "I'm exhausted. I'm going to nap. Wake me up if you think it's going to hatch."

"I will," Luka said. He noticed the blanket nearby and handed it to the man. "Here. You can use this as a pillow."

"I'll do that. Hopefully I don't have a nightmare of your dad showing up, Johann," Robbie grumbled. Johann grinned at him.

Luka looked back at the egg. He could see the dented in area moving slightly. He tentatively placed his hand on the spot and felt the pokemon inside push against it. The sensation made him feel goosey and he pulled his hand back and rubbed it against his shorts.

Johann's ears tilted forward and he motioned to the egg.

"It's making sounds?" Luka whispered and put his ear to a smooth spot on the shell. He could hear little muffled yips and soft grunts coming from inside. His lips pushed together in a tight, excited smile.

They kept quiet as they ate so they wouldn't disturb Robbie, both staring at the egg as if it would hatch at any moment.

After they were finished, Luka looked through the other bag. Johann laid on his side across from the boy watching him, his eyes half-closed in contentment that only a full belly could give. His ears jerked and swiveled as he listened to the baby's conversation in the egg, occasionally whispering encouraging words back to it.

Luka looked over the two canisters of powdered formula and then the bottles in the bag. There was a little scrub brush to clean the bottles as well as an actual brush for fur. Luka pulled out the brush and plucked off the price tag.

"Come," he whispered to Johann and pointed to the ground in front of him. The pokemon's ears perked up at the directness of the command and he stood and walked to him.

Luka cupped the side of the pokemon's face with one hand and brushed the other side then his forehead and down his throat. He repeated this a few times before switching sides and then giving the pichu's cheek pouches a rub with his fingers.

It felt wonderful to Johann and he closed his eyes. Luka then took Johann's left ear and very gently brushed the inside and then the back.

The boy smiled at the look of pleasure that was on the pokemon's face. He did the same for the other ear and then ran the brush through the pichu's mane and down his back and sides. The boy was amazed at all the loose hair coming off of the pichu.

"You're shedding like crazy," he whispered.

Johann fell onto his side and rolled over onto his back, exposing his stomach. Luka chuckled and brushed his chest, stomach, and back haunches.

He tried to brush the pichu's tail as he had done his ears but Johann wasn't having any of that and reached over and gently nipped the boy's arm. Luka stopped brushing and gave him an amused look.

"You really don't like your tail messed with?" the boy asked. "I'll have to remember that if you ever get on my nerves." He smirked, grabbing the tip of the pokemon's tail and giving it a soft tug.

Johann looked genuinely annoyed and butted the boy's arm with his nose away before laying back down. Luka took him around his middle and pulled him so that the pokemon's back faced him and began brushing him again.

"Johann," he whispered after a short time. The pokemon's ears moved from their relaxed, sagging position, turning to point back toward him. "Will your papa be mad at me if he does come here?" Johann looked back at the boy, confused by the question. "It's my fault his brother was caught." Johann's expression softened and he shook his head before turning away from the boy.

Luka kept brushing the pokemon, trying to get rid of as much loose hair as possible, gathering up balls of fur and tossing them to the side.

Every so often, his eyes would go to the egg. It was constantly rocking now with quick, jerky movements. Eventually, the egg lurched toward them so hard that it rolled into Johann's shoulder.

The egg quivered again and a large, new crack appeared on the previously smooth, unbroken side. Johann stood and examined it while Luka quickly crawled to Robbie.

"Robbie wake up," he said, giving the man a hard shake. "I think it's about to hatch."

The man responded with a grunt. Luka didn't wait for him to awaken. He immediately made his way back to the egg.

He was about to position it where the damaged side was facing up again so the pokemon would have an easier time getting out but Johann took hold of one of his hands and stopped him with a shake of his head. Luka was confused but put his hands down.

Robbie sat down beside him, trying to rub the sleepiness out of his eyes, and Johann stood on the other side of the egg. They all watched in silence as the egg shook violently.

Another hard hit from inside caused the new crack to widen. Another made it split open and caused a few shards of shell to fall to the ground. A black nose peeked through the tiny opening eliciting a few 'awws' from the small group.

One more hit and the pokemon's head and then body was free and it spilled out of the shell and onto the ground before Johann. It laid prone for several seconds with its eyes open and unfocused before it looked up at the pichu.

Johann's smile grew even bigger. He crouched down so he could be eye level with the eevee.

"Hello, little… uh," he paused, leaned forward, and lifted one of the eevee's back legs. "Brother."

The eevee's ears perked up at the sound of Johann's voice.

"Brother…" the eevee said. Feeling the word form in his mouth was odd. He locked eyes with Johann. "Big brother Johann," he said slowly.

Johann laughed and touched noses with the eevee. "So you were listening in there, huh, Sigge?"

*"Sig-geh" with a hard g is how I pronounce the eevee's name.*


	3. Sigge's First Day

"Happy Birthday, Sigge," Luka said.

The eevee's ears raised slightly and he smiled when he heard the boy's voice.

"Sigge," the eevee said thoughtfully as he buried his nose in the grass beneath his front legs and took in deep, heavy breaths.

Movement from his left caught his attention and his eyes lingered on the slowpoke who had rolled onto his back and was watching them from a short ways off.

He locked eyes with the pokemon and then looked beyond him at the wide river until a bird sounded a shrill call from the tree above them. His ears swiveled wildly and he stared up, looking for a source for the sound.

"There's a lot to take in," Robbie whispered. "So many new things to experience."

Sigge looked back, unaware someone had been behind him. Robbie gave him a little smile and waved.

"He's so cute," Luka said.

"He is," Robbie agreed.

"Sigge," Johann said. The eevee looked at him and wagged his tail stiffly.

"Sigge," Luka said. Sigge looked at him and Luka smiled.

"Sigge," Robbie mimicked Luka and they all laughed when the eevee whipped his head back dramatically to look at him and let loose a frustrated but also amused growl.

Sigge looked back to Johann. "I know you," he said.

"You should," Johann said with a look of mock anger. "You were jumping around in that egg of yours and not letting me sleep so I spent the whole of last night talking to you." This made Sigge smile and then laugh which in turn brought a little grin to Johann's face.

"Get up, Sigge. Move those legs of yours," Johann said. He reached forward and patted the ground in front of Sigge's front paws then stood up on all fours and pranced in place.

The eevee obeyed and unsteadily lifted up.

"He's very smart," Johann thought. "He understands us well. They must've taken great care with his egg."

Sigge attempted to take a step and almost toppled over before catching himself with a well placed front paw.

"You're doing good," Luka said. "Go slow if you need to."

The eevee stumbled around a bit but soon gained his footing and before long, he and Johann were taking turns chasing each other around the yard while Robbie helped Luka fix a bottle for his first meal.

Johann sped toward the slowpoke and deftly hopped over him but Sigge, with his fresh set of legs, couldn't make the jump and crashed right into the slowpoke's side, bouncing off and rolling to a stop in the grass.

Johann rose up on the tippy toes of his hind legs and peeked over the slowpoke's stomach to check on Sigge. He laughed when he saw the eevee was okay other than a stunned face. Sigge's ears wiggled at the pleasing sound and he smiled widely before picking himself up and walking to the slowpoke.

"I didn't mean to run into you," he said. When the slowpoke didn't acknowledge him, he leaned closer to the pokemon's face and stared into his eyes. When the slowpoke still didn't respond, he cocked his head in confusion and looked at Johann.

"Don't worry. He's fine. Slowpoke are tough."

Sigge gently patted the strange creature's muzzle. "Why won't he talk like you talk?"

"They aren't known for speaking too much. They're different than most pokemon," Johann said.

"Milk's ready," Luka called as he and Robbie came around the shed.

"Oooh," Johann said excitedly, taking off full sprint with Sigge trailing behind.

"I don't know why you're in such a rush, Johann," Luka said when the two pokemon reached him. "You aren't getting any. You've already eaten, too, you greedy thing." He snickered when Johann pouted.

Luka dropped to the ground and pulled Sigge onto his lap.

"The staff at the Pokemon Center told me to keep his head up like this when we feed him," Robbie said, sitting in front of them and tilting Sigge's head slightly upward with a finger under his chin. "They also said he'll need to be fed every four hours for the first few days then you can start introducing him to more solid foods while his teeth grow in. I'll leave my watch with you so you can keep up with the time."

"Why are they different?" Luka said, pointing to the canisters of formula.

"One is for right after they're born," Robbie said. "It's supposed to have something in it that makes babies' immune systems strong." Luka looked at him confused. "That's the part of the body that fights off colds and other sicknesses."

"Oh," Luka said.

"That's just for today. You switch to the other one tomorrow. That one is regular formula for him to drink until his teeth come in."

"Okay." Luka offered Sigge the bottle, holding it up as Robbie showed him. Sigge took hold and drank from it eagerly.

"I really didn't think he was going to make it," Robbie said, wearily resting his chin on his palm and watching Sigge with heavy-lidded eyes. "But here he is. Perfectly fine."

"I was worried too, at first," Luka said. "But then we felt him moving around last night, and I had a feeling he was going to be okay."

Both glanced away from Sigge as the slowpoke made his way over and laid down beside Robbie.

"You lost the race, slowpoke," Luka said, smiling at the pokemon.

"Yeah, you're dead last," Robbie added with a yawn. He leaned forward so he could better see the pokemon's face.

"I've never been so close to one of these guys," he said. He reached over and poked the pokemon's cheek and then pet his head.

"Wow, his fur is so soft," he commented and then stroked past the slowpoke's ears and down his back. "Thin but soft."

"It is, isn't it? I got to touch one once," Luka said. By then, Sigge had finished the bottle and had jumped off his lap so Luka put it down and moved closer to sit in front of the slowpoke.

"Johann, can you talk to him?" Luka asked as he stroked the patch of fur above the slowpoke's nose and in between his eyes.

Johann chuckled at the idea of conversing with a slowpoke and shook his head.

Luka looked at Robbie who stared blearily at the slowpoke.

"You look so tired, Robbie," Luka said. "Go get some sleep. We're okay now thanks to you."

"I'm going to have to do that," the man said. He removed his watch, handed it to Luka, and turned to look at Sigge.

"I'm glad I got to see you being born, little guy. That was a treat." He reached over and rubbed the eevee's head before standing and looking at Luka.

"Make sure you wash out the bottles after every feeding or what's left of the milk will dry and make it harder to clean."

Luka nodded but his attention was on the watch. He shifted it back and forth in his hands, admiring it's glittering gold and silver face. "This is a really nice watch."

"Thanks. My parents gave me that so be careful with it."

Luka nodded again and looked up. "Do your parents live here?"

"No. They're in Ecruteak."

"That's a nice city," Luka said as he reverently placed the watch on top of the unopened canister of formula, grabbed the bottle, and stood himself. "Thanks again for the formula."

Robbie nodded. "I'm glad I could help. See ya later," he said as he walked toward the path but then stopped and turned to look at Luka.

"Tina's friend was supposed to bring her to get groceries this morning so you'll have to deal with that when they get back. Remember to watch your mouth," he said, tapping his frowning lips with a finger. Luka let out a little sigh and nodded. "If she gets rough with you, come wake me up."

"I will. Thanks." Luka said, waving to him as he left.

Luka walked to the hydrant, smiling as Johann sped past him with Sigge trying his hardest to keep up, and turned it on, quickly rinsing and scrubbing the bottle out.

The water caught Sigge's attention immediately. He stopped chasing Johann and walked to the hydrant, watching intently as Luka cleaned the bottle.

When Luka was done, he lowered the water pressure then smiled when the eevee turned and placed his tail under the stream. When the fur on the tip became soaked and heavy with water, Sigge pulled it closer to his face, examining it.

Luka shut the water off and watched for a moment as Sigge stared awestruck at the water dripping from his tail. He chuckled at the eevee's silly face then put the bottle between his knees and bent down, grabbing Sigge's tail and gently wringing the water out.

He walked back to grab the bag of formula Robbie brought them and his watch and placed them safely on a shelf in the shed, taking quick note of the time. Sigge followed him in.

"Is this the dark place you were talking about, big brother? Back when I was trapped in the egg," Sigge asked as he looked around.

"Yep," Johann said as he poked his head into the shed.

When Luka started toward the opening, Johann moved aside so he could exit.

"Sigge," Luka called as he stepped out onto the ground.

Sigge raced out of the shed gleefully and skidded to a stop in front of him. Luka smiled but then his face grew stern.

"I want you to listen to me carefully, okay?" he said. Sigge gave one quick, enthusiastic nod. He picked the eevee up and walked to the shed's side.

"Do you see that up there?" Luka asked. Sigge was such an armful for him that he could only point with one of his fingers up toward the house. Sigge nodded again. Luka sat him down and knelt in front of him.

"There's a horrible monster that lives up there. She tries to hurt everyone that goes near her and she'll hurt you if she sees you. Never go up there. No matter what."

Luka stopped talking and stared at the eevee's oblivious, smiling face. "He's never been hurt or scared. He doesn't understand the danger," Luka thought. "How do I explain it better to him?"

Luka looked to Johann for help and flinched when he saw the pichu slinking up behind Sigge, his body crouched, head held low, ears flat, and fangs bared in a silent, wide-mouthed snarl.

Johann quickly latched onto the back of Sigge's haunch causing Sigge to shriek and fling himself away. He stood, fur bristled into a puff, facing toward Johann in utter bewilderment.

"That monster will do far worse to you than that if she ever catches you," Johann said. "Do you understand? Do as Luka says and never go up there."

Sigge stared at him for several seconds and then nodded.

Johann snickered. "I'm impressed, Sigge. You turned to face me when I bit you. Most newborns would've wet themselves or run to hide behind something. You're a brave fellow." Sigge smiled shyly at the praise.

Both pokemon's ears pricked up and Luka glanced up toward the house at the sound of an approaching car.

"Sounds like she's back," Luka said, grimacing.

"That's what the monster sounds like?" Sigge asked with wide eyes. Johann laughed and shook his head.

"Boy!" The woman yelled after a couple of minutes.

Luka groaned and stood. He then fixed a firm stare on Sigge. "Remember what I said. Don't go up there. Don't let her see you."

Sigge studied the strained look on Luka's face. The look made Sigge feel unsettled and stirred a little worry in him for the boy. Those feelings were new to him. He didn't like them.

"If I shouldn't go up there, he shouldn't either," Sigge thought.

"Boy!" she screeched louder this time.

Luka scowled and turned to walk to the house.

"Sigge," Johann said as he walked briskly to the shed's side to keep Luka in his sight. "Stay here. Stay right here. You, too, slowpoke," he called out to the approaching pokemon.

Johann's now tense demeanor and quick movements made something instinctual click in Sigge's mind that pushed his worry into full fear. Not for himself or fear of the monster but fear for Luka.

He looked back at his hind leg. Although Johann hadn't bitten him hard enough to break through the skin, the place still throbbed. He looked back to Johann and watched him creep off after Luka.

"If the monster will hurt me worse than this, it'll hurt Luka, too," Sigge thought, growing even more alarmed.

Johann followed at a distance behind Luka, slipping into the tall grass of the backyard to avoid being seen by the boy or the woman so he could keep an eye on their interaction. He continued to head up until he reached it's tapering off point to the shorter grass of the front yard and laid down to watch.

The woman and one of her friends stood near a car parked behind Robbie's. Luka made his way to them, dreading their soon to be interaction more and more with each step as he could see the woman was already in a foul mood.

"Get these groceries in," she ordered.

Luka nodded and started toward the open trunk.

"I'll help," the woman's friend said, smiling awkwardly at him. Luka forced a smile back at her.

"It's okay. I have it," he said, already knowing that the woman would never let her friend help him anyway.

Johann saw the woman's face grow furious from his hiding spot. In response, his muzzle curled into a snarl and he let out a low, rumbly growl. He was growing so angry watching the scene ahead that he ignored the rustling coming through the grass despite his ears swivelling backward to meet the sound. Once it was right behind him, he turned his head, his lips curling over his teeth even tighter as Sigge came into view.

"Sigge," he growled.

Sigge halted for a moment. He stared at Johann trying to decide if he should go to him or not. He wasn't the friendly pokemon from before. Something in his mind was wary and told him Johann might not be safe to approach right now but since he was still a baby, he didn't know to listen to his instincts.

Sigge said nothing, holding eye contact with Johann and walked forward, settling down close beside him. He then looked away from Johann's angry face and at the woman.

"That's the monster?" Sigge asked, narrowing his eyes while he studied her. Johann's lips lowered into a frown and he nodded. "It doesn't look scary. It's a lot smaller than Robbie."

"Oh, you can smile at her but you can't at your own mother," the woman said.

A hundred different smart mouth comments raced through Luka's mind and wanted to escape his lips but he remembered Robbie's instructions and grit his teeth together hard. When he didn't respond, the woman pushed him roughly toward the car, causing him to slam against the car's back door.

"Tina, come on," the woman's friend said. "Let's go in. That movie we wanted to watch will be on in a few minutes."

"Get these inside and put them up," the woman said before being pulled to the house by her friend.

"Why do you have to be like that?" Luka heard the friend say. "He's just a little kid."

"She's a demon," he thought as he watched them ascend the steps and enter the house. "That's why. There's nothing good to her. She's rotten inside."

Luka gave his back a quick rub and walked to the trunk, grumbling to himself when the man across the street stepped out of his house and sat on the porch.

Luka ignored him. He grabbed up as many bags as he could manage and trudged to the house. After several uncomfortable trips of being growled at by the woman inside and stared at by the man out, and some time putting away the large load of groceries, he walked out to the car to give it a final check to make sure he had gotten everything.

He grit his teeth again when he saw the woman stomping out of the house. "What's wrong with her today?" he thought. "She's even worse than normal."

"Don't think I didn't see the sloppy job you did putting those groceries away," she said.

Luka said nothing and pulled the trunk down. She rushed toward him and pushed him even harder, knocking him down this time.

"Don't ignore me," she said before the man across the street caught her attention.

"What are you looking at, freak?" she yelled.

As the woman turned toward the man and began berating him, a spot of brown near the house caught Luka's attention as he stood. Sigge had emerged from the grass, scowling and walking with purpose toward the woman.

It took everything in Luka to keep his face blank. "Johann, what are you doing?" the boy thought frantically. "Get him."

Johann was quick. He launched out of the grass and was atop Sigge in seconds. He wrapped his front legs under Sigge's, lifting him up off the ground and awkwardly ran back to their hiding spot on his hind legs. Luka instantly felt relief and almost wanted to laugh at the silly sight until he saw the slowpoke come into view on the path. He was making his way straight toward them just as Sigge had.

He saw Johann poke his head out of the grass as he tried to speak to the pokemon but the slowpoke kept his steady march forward. Johann slipped back into the grass. There was nothing he could do.

"What do I do?" Luka thought. "If she thinks that slowpoke is my friend, she'll try to hurt him." He twisted his face into a fearful look and took a step back.

This caught the woman's attention and she looked at the boy and then to what had caused such a reaction in him. She sneered in disgust at the approaching slowpoke and began to slowly back toward the house.

"No, no, no, no," Luka thought, trying to will the pokemon to hear him. "Stay away."

"Get out of here," the woman yelled. She scanned the yard for anything she could toss at the slowpoke and spied a broken branch and threw it at the pokemon as hard as she could.

The slowpoke stopped and his eyes glowed a soft blue indicating he was using some sort of psychic power.

The woman let out a short squeal and quickly backed up several steps before turning and sprinting the rest of the way to the house, slamming the door behind her once she reached it.

Luka again wanted to laugh, he could hear the man across the street doing just that, but didn't know if the woman was watching from the house so he kept up his fearful charade and walked around the slowpoke, giving the pokemon a wide berth.

"I don't know if you can hear me," he thought as he looked at the slowpoke. The pokemon's eyes were locked on him now, still glowing as he watched the boy move around him. "But just in case you are listening, I'm not scared of you. I just don't want her to think we're friends because I don't want her to try to hurt you."

When Luka got around the slowpoke, he ran to the path, making sure to keep his face worried and fearful.

Johann and Sigge broke out of the grass ahead of him and Johann led the way to the shed.

Once there, Luka said nothing and slid down against the shed's wall. He held his head in his hands for a moment, trying to recover. When he was composed, he looked at Johann who was giving Sigge a withering glare and then to Sigge who sat facing Luka but was watching Johann with a wary sideways glance.

"What happened?" Luka asked.

Johann took his eyes off of Sigge and bent down to write. "I heard the slowpoke coming up the path," Johann began but stopped as Sigge patted at the words.

"What is this, big brother?"

"These are words. We can use them to talk to Luka in a way he can understand," he said as he smoothed the dirt and began writing again.

"I left the spot where we were watching to try to stop him. I didn't expect Sigge to do what he did." Johann both wrote and spoke that last sentence aloud while looking angrily at the eevee.

"I ought to bite you again but harder this time for doing something so foolish," Johann said. Sigge winced at his harsh tone.

Luka looked at Sigge. "Why did you do that? I told you not to go up there."

Sigge swept away Johann's words with his tail then swiveled around and began etching out squiggly little lines in the dirt with his paw. Despite Luka and Johann's irritation with his earlier actions, both couldn't help but smile. When he was done, he looked up at Luka expectantly.

Johann chuckled. "Sorry, little brother. Those aren't words. You have to learn how to write first."

"Can you teach me," Sigge asked.

"I will later," Johann said. "For now, tell me what you want to say. I'll write it for you."

"Okay," Sigge began, looking at Johann. "I followed you because I was worried about Luka. I think that's the right word for that feeling." Johann nodded. "I wasn't going to walk out like that. I was going to stay right beside you and do whatever you did. I just forgot what you guys said when I saw her mean face and how she was acting." He looked at Luka now and frowned. "I didn't like how she was talking to you. I really didn't like when she pushed you. I just wanted to make her stop. That's all I could think about."

"I understand," Luka said, his expression softening once he read the words. "But you're a baby. You're not strong enough to do anything yet."

"Big brother Johann is strong," Sigge said and then turned to Johann. "You can bite her hard."

"I'd love to do that but…" Johann stopped and thought for a second. "Do you know what a pokeball is?"

"I remember hearing that word while I was in my egg," Sigge said. "It's like an egg. It's something that holds pokemon inside of it."

"Yeah. It's a ball that holds a pokemon inside. That woman took a ball that has someone I love very much inside of it. She always has it with her and she has big pokemon that protect her. Luka doesn't want to take a chance of me getting hurt if I had to fight those pokemon and he's worried if he makes her too angry, she'll hurt the pokemon that's inside the ball. We're stuck here until we can figure out how to get that ball away from her."

The eevee's ears sagged and his face fell into a shamed look.

"I almost made things much worse then," he said after a moment. "I'm sorry. I won't do anything so stupid again."

"Good. I know it was hard to watch," Johann smiled and nuzzled the eevee's cheek with his nose.

Luka looked at Johann and frowned. "You can't go up there anymor-" Luka said but stopped when Johann scowled and he held up a paw.

"Don't start with that," he wrote.

"They followed you up there," Luka continued anyway.

"No, I'm not going to stop. I'm going to be right there watching in case you need me," Johann wrote and fixed the boy with a stern, authoritative stare. The type of look a parent would use with their child to indicate the conversation was over and there was no point in arguing anymore.

Luka's frown deepened. He was a good, obedient child. He didn't remember any of the adults in his family ever having to use such a tactic with him but he had seen it used with other children and recognized it for what it was. He let out a short, frustrated sigh and pouted.

Johann patted the boy's leg and wrote some more. "I've behaved so far, haven't I? I've stayed in the grass."

"So far, yeah. You'll lose it someday and come running out," Luka said. "I know you will."

Johann smiled. "I won't unless I absolutely need to. I promise." He stopped writing and pawed at the words for a second.

"I wish I could talk human," he wrote, also speaking the words aloud so Sigge could take part in the conversation.

"Me, too," Sigge said.

Luka nodded and then smiled, relieved that the tension hanging over them had dissipated. "That would be nice. It would make things easier. You wouldn't have to write so much."

"My father can speak human," the pichu wrote.

"Really? That's so cool," Luka said.

Johann snickered. "He told me he learned so he could cuss out any human who bothered him with their own words."

Luka laughed when he read the words. "Did he actually do that?"

Johann nodded. "I heard him do it many times myself."

"What does that mean?" Sigge asked.

"He wanted to say mean words to them because he hates humans," Johann said. "Speaking out loud has more of an effect than just scribbling in the dirt."

Luka's face grew worried. "Would he do it to me if he came here?" Johann shook his head.

Johann thought for a moment and then grinned. "Remember that man that stopped us when we were carrying Sigge's egg back yesterday?" Luka nodded. "I actually know him. His name's Ben. He runs the Pokemon Center in Ecruteak city. For as long as I've been alive and probably even longer, that man has been trying to get on my father's good side. I've heard papa say all sorts of nasty things to him and Emil. Especially Emil," Johann said with a laugh. "Emil's the espeon that was with him. He never has given up, though. Just keeps coming back."

"Why?" Luka said. He couldn't fathom why someone would put up with such treatment willingly.

"He explained that being in contact with the leaders of the larger groups of pokemon helps him care for the wild pokemon in his area better."

"Oh, because the leaders will know what's going on out in the wild better than anyone else," Luka said but then frowned. "I don't know if it's worth going through all that, though."

"I think it's a game for the two of them at this point and they both enjoy it. Ben finds where our group has settled at the time and comes around a couple of times a month to talk with papa. Papa gets sassy with him. They trade words and Ben always promises he'll be back to try again. That man is the most patient, kind, and gentle being I've ever met. I don't know if it's stubborn pride of not wanting to fail in his goal to befriend my father or what but he keeps coming back. I think they could be great friends. Maybe they already are in their own way."

"He did have a really kind look to him," Luka said as he thought back on the man's face when he bent down to look at him.

"I think he's broken through a bit," Johann wrote. After thinking for a moment his face grew solemn. "He's helped us a lot. We have a sickly family member who wasn't doing well out in the wild with us that he arranged care for and of course when my uncles were taken. Papa went to Ecruteak and spoke to him about it right after it happened." He shook his head as if to rid himself of those awful memories.

"And he did bring my brother to him to put to work at the Pokemon Center. Papa said one of Ben's sons is the leader of the security team for the same Center that Ben runs and he volunteered to be my brother's trainer."

Johann's eyes squeezed almost closed in mirth and a gigantic grin settled on his face. "Imagine how shocked we all were when he came back and told us what he did. Forget our shock. I wish I could've seen my brother when he realized what was going on. Papa said he could barely get any words out. That he looked like an old dog left out in the rain, hunched over, trembling hard, with his tail not just between his legs but looped up over his shoulder and hugging his back and side." Johann laughed heartily at this. "It was the first time I'd seen my father laugh since my uncles were taken. Serves him right for acting so bad. I was always the rascal of the group until he started all that. Made me look like an angel."

"What about me?" Sigge asked.

"You're still a sweet, precious angel even after what you did earlier," Johann said, rubbing his nose against the eevee's.

This made Sigge smile but he shook his head. "No. Will he say mean words to me?" Sigge said.

"Are you a human? You silly thing," Johann said.

"No but I'm with a human," Sigge said. "You said he was especially mean to that Emil. It was because the pokemon was friendly with a human, right? I'm friendly with Luka."

Johann smiled. "You have nothing to worry about. He'll like you." He then looked at Luka and frowned.

"What?" the boy asked.

"I considered telling Emil about the mess we're in yesterday," Johann wrote and continued to speak aloud for Sigge's benefit. "He and Ben could've helped us. Ben would probably even take you in to live with him and his family since you have nowhere to go."

Luka's brows pinched together. "I do have somewhere to go," he thought but it came out in his mind as a small, weak, desperate whine of someone who had no confidence in the words. That scared Luka.

"Along with the two of us, of course," Johann wrote with a quick flick of his paw between himself and Sigge when he noticed the boy's nervous look. "But I was also worried about the egg like you were. Ben wouldn't have thrown it away but he would've made us give it back to the store it came from. I didn't know what they'd do with it and didn't want to chance it."

Luka tried to push his fear away and nodded. "It's best that you didn't. Everything worked out."

"I'm not sure about that," Johann wrote. "Since it was so damaged, the store might've just given you Sigge's egg for saving it out of that dumpster and we would be out of here."

"Dumpster," Sigge said. "That's a funny word. What is it?"

"It's a big box that you put things in that you don't want anymore. Someone threw you in the trash, Sigge," Johann said with a grin. He then laughed at the look of outrage that flashed on the eevee's face.

Luka tried to smile but couldn't manage it. "Maybe it's best we don't tell anyone," he said softly. This got a confused look from Johann. "That nice man wouldn't have let me come back by myself. And if I'm not here, she might kill your uncle." Johann bent to write more but Luka continued. "I'm just worried something bad will happen. Something will go wrong. Can you let me decide to ask for help or not if we see him again?"

"That's fine. I'll leave it up to you," Johann wrote. "Doesn't mean I won't indirectly ask for some help, though, if the opportunity arises," he thought.

"I'm hoping your papa will come," Luka said. "That would be the safest way. He could just show up, scare her into giving him the ball, and we could all leave."

Johann nodded. "That's what I'm hoping, too."

They sat in uncomfortable silence for a few moments. Both pokemon could sense fear radiating off the boy like ripples on the surface of a disturbed lake. Sigge couldn't handle it and walked up to Luka, looking up at his face and wagging his tail.

Luka said nothing and forced a smile. He then pulled Sigge onto his lap and squeezed him when the pokemon leaned against his chest. They stayed like that for a couple of minutes until Luka had calmed.

"I'm glad you aren't like a human baby," Luka said as he looked at Sigge. "Human babies are pretty useless when they're born. They can't do anything for themselves and can't understand anything either."

He then looked to Johann. "I was a little worried he'd be like that but I've heard that the breeder he came from takes a lot of care with their eggs. The baby's parents and the human workers talk to them a lot and even use psychic pokemon so the babies can learn to talk back to them before they're even born. That made me feel a bit better."

"Pokemon do that in the wild, too, if the group is on good terms with a psychic type," Johann wrote and watched as Luka bent slightly to read while also keeping a tight hold around a very contented Sigge. "The idea is to get the baby as prepared for the world as possible. It ups the chance of it staying alive when it's born. Everything is still new to them when they hatch, of course, but they can at least mostly understand and speak to their family. It also makes for a smarter pokemon."

"Did your papa do that with you?" Luka asked.

"Yes. He did it with every one of his children. He also spoke to me constantly even when there wasn't a psychic type around. It was mostly him but my siblings would do it as well. He read to my egg a lot, too. I still remember that." Johann closed his eyes and smiled sweetly as he thought back on his family.

"Johann makes his papa sound scary but maybe he's not so bad," Luka thought. "My papa could be scary to other people, too, but he was wonderful to me."

"He read to you?" Luka asked.

"People lose a lot of things out in the woods," Johann said. "Whenever he found a book, he'd bring it back to our group. He taught us all a lot from those books. How to read and write, the history of our region, and some math. My favorite thing for him to do, as was his, was for him to just simply sit and read stories to us. That book that you got our names from is one of his favorites, actually. He read it to us often."

Luka smiled. "Really? Well, at least I know he'll like the name I gave you," Luka said. Johann smiled and nodded. "Sitting around reading a story together sounds nice."

"I miss being read to so much," Luka thought.

"Yes. I loved it. I would lay between his front legs when he read. My vulpix uncle would squeeze in beside me. He'd wash my face for me sometimes while we listened. My siblings, their children, and the elders would gather around and everyone would get quiet to hear him even if it was something he had read from several times already."

Johann's smile faded and his ears sagged as he thought over the once sweet memories.

"How many brothers and sisters do you have?" Luka quickly asked, noting the heavy sadness beginning to settle on Johann's face and wanting to distract him from what was causing it.

"My father has twelve sons and five daughters. I'm his youngest."

"What?" Luka gasped.

"He's prolific at the very least." Johann laughed as he wrote this.

"What's that mean?" Luka said. Johann rose up on his haunches with a little grin and shrugged.

"It's one of those words that I'm too young to be told what it means," Luka said, narrowing his eyes a bit.

"What does it mean, big brother?" Sigge asked and then frowned when Johann repeated his grin and shrug at him.

Johann and Sigge's ears perked up and both looked toward the corner of the shed. Luka was alarmed at first but Johann stayed put so he relaxed. After a while, the slowpoke came into view and made his way past them to the river.

"Did it take him all this time to get back here?" Luka asked before laughing at the slowpoke living up to his name. Johann joined him and Sigge did as well, although the latter didn't know why the other two were so tickled and just laughed for the sake of it.

Once Luka's laughter had quieted, he called out to the slowpoke. "Thanks, Mr. Slowpoke. You saved me back there."

The slowpoke didn't respond and kept walking.

The rest of the day went by peacefully. There were feedings for Sigge, thorough brushings for both pokemon, playtime for the three, and napping in the shade. Sigge also insisted that Johann start teaching him how to write so the two spent hours hunched over scribbling in a patch of dirt.

When Robbie awoke later, he brought sandwiches, sodas, and a big bag of chips and had dinner with them. Sigge became surly when told he couldn't have any but they explained to him that he was stuck drinking milk until his teeth started to grow in and Luka made him an extra bottle just so he wouldn't feel completely left out. They all shared a good laugh when Luka told Robbie about Big Brave Sigge and the woman's run in with the slowpoke.

Once Robbie said his goodbyes and left, they started getting settled for the night.

Luka picked Sigge up and placed him in the nest and Johann jumped up beside him. Luka was about to wrap them in the blanket but Johann shook his head and pointed at Luka.

"It's okay. I want you two to be warm," the boy muttered. He was very tired and only wanted to hurry and go lay down himself. Johann laughed and fluffed Sigge's mane and then his own smaller one.

"I know you guys have fur, but it's going to be cold tonight," Luka said.

Johann frowned and hopped onto the desk. On the desk's top right corner sat a cup filled with pens and a couple of pencils and scattered on the desk's side was a notebook and a stack of old mail.

Johann took a pencil and flipped through the notebook until he came upon a blank piece of paper. "You need it more than us. We aren't naked like you," Johann wrote and grinned back at Luka.

Luka leaned close to the desk. There was just enough light streaming in through the windows from the security light that he could make out what Johann wrote.

"I'm not naked," Luka said with a snort of laughter.

"You don't have a nice coat of fur like we do."

"He's a baby. He should be kept warm," Luka stated.

"You're a baby. You should be kept warm," Johann countered. Luka pouted as he read the words. Johann smiled at the reaction. "Don't coddle him."

Luka looked at the words and then at Johann. "What's coddle mean?"

"Don't treat him so gently. We want him to be tough," Johann wrote. "You need that blanket more than we do. If you put it on us, I'll kick it right off onto the floor."

Luka frowned but nodded knowing that there was no point in arguing. "Alright."

Content with the boy's answer, Johann went back and snuggled in next to Sigge.

"Goodnight, guys," Luka said, giving both pokemon a pet and a hug before grabbing the blanket and heading to the shed's exit. His steps halted when Johann called out to him.

"I don't like being in here when it's dark. You know that. I'll be fine outside. Night," Luka said as he slipped out.

"Why doesn't he like being in here when it's dark?" Sigge asked as he curled closer to Johann.

"I don't know," Johann said, pushing his face into the fluff around Sigge's neck to warm his nose. "He hasn't told me why yet."

Once outside, Luka spotted the slowpoke lying close to where he and Johann usually slept and smiled. He wouldn't have to sleep alone tonight. He wrapped the blanket around himself and went to lay beside the pokemon, draping part of the blanket over the slowpoke's back as he dropped to the ground and cuddled close to the pokemon. He was immensely thankful for his presence and for his soft, warm side to lean on.

The boy stared out at the beautiful city lights dancing on the river's surface as he usually did, thinking back on the day's events. It had been a good day. He then gazed at the city while he ran his fingers over the slowpoke's fur until he was put to sleep by the pokemon's soft breathing and the rise and fall of his side.

I made a little art for this chapter: comraderaichu Tumblr com/image/620962002745098240


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